Dirk Nowitzki: Where Does He Stand Among the NBA's Best Playoff Scorers?

Dirk Nowitzki is at it again.

He is taking care of business in the NBA postseason.

Game-by-game, he is adding to his already stellar playoff resume and is helping the Dallas Mavericks win.

Here is a summary of how Dirk is stacking up in a number of all-time playoff scoring categories.

You will quickly see that he is doing well, not only in the 2011 playoff picture, but when you start to compare him with some of the NBA all-time greats.

Career Made Free Throws

Dirk goes to the free-throw line a lot.

When he gets there, he makes his opponents pay for putting him there.

Going into tonight's Game 4, Nowitzki is tied for No. 9 on the all-time (playoffs) list for made free throws.

With his next made FT, Dirk will move ahead of Larry Bird (901).

Guess who is Numero Uno? You got it...Michael Jordan with 1,463.

Players Who Have Scored at Least 50 in a Game

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OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 8: Karl Malone #32 of the Utah Jazz shoots over Antawn Jamison #33 of the Golden State Warriors during the game at The Arena in Oakland on April 8, 2003 in Oakland, California. The Warriors won 128-102. NOTE TO USER: User expressly

Nowitzki opened the 2011 Western Conference Finals by dropping 48 on the OKC Thunder.

That's a lot of points, but...Dirk is one of 20 NBA players who have scored at least 50 points in a playoff game.

Nowitzki put up 50 against the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 Western Conference Finals.

The only other players to score at least 50 since 2000 are Allen Iverson (3x), Ray Allen, Karl Malone (pictured), Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant, who each also did it one time.

Michael Jordan has scored 50 or more points in the most playoff games. He's done it eight times.

Career Playoff Scoring (Points)

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19 May 1998: Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls dunks the ball during a Eastern Conference Finals game against the Indiana Pacers at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls defeated the Pacers 104- 98.

Dirk Nowitzki is currently No. 19 on the career playoffs points list.

Going into Game 4 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals, Dirk has scored 2,992 points in 116 games.

He is currently ahead of Reggie Miller and behind James Worthy...not bad company to be keeping.  

Dirk has quite a ways to catch the all-time playoff points leader, Michael Jordan, who rung up 5,987 points in 179 games for the Chicago Bulls.

Career Playoff Scoring (Average)

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9 Dec 2000: Hakeem Olajuwon #34 of the Houston Rockets gets ready to shoot a free throw during the game against the Seattle SuperSonics at Key Arena in Seattle, Washington. The Rockets defeated the SuperSonics 111-104. NOTE TO USER: It is expressly un

Of players who have scored at least 2,500 points in the NBA Playoffs, Dirk Nowitzki is No. 5 with a 25.8 points per playoff game scoring average.

He only trails (1) Michael Jordan, 33.4 ppg; (2) Jerry West, 29.1 ppg; (3) Elgin Baylor, 27.0 and (4) Hakeem Olajuwon (pictured), 25.9 ppg.

That puts Dirk ahead of Kobe (25.4 ppg), Shaq (24.3), Kareem (24.3), Bird (23.8), Wilt (22.5) and Dr. J (21.9).

Impressed with the Big German yet?