RealGM

Dirk Nowitzki, rubbing a swollen nose that he's sort of sure isn't broken, said Thursday he has only one New Year's resolution.

"Make some free throws again," said Nowitzki, who was hit on the bridge of his nose by Minnesota's Craig Smith on Tuesday. "I slipped under 90 [percent] for the first time this year. I was six out of 10 last game. That ain't cutting it."

Nowitzki indeed fell to 89.2 percent with his faulty free throw shooting against Minnesota. And the start of the New Year included other problem areas for the Mavericks to address, namely working on the starts to their games.

"We've had that trouble for a while now," he said. "And it's on us older guys to be ready to play from the tip. We just got to get going a little quicker, get the crowd going. We can't just go through the motions early."

Added Jason Kidd: "We can't put ourselves in that big of a hole if we want to be a good team. But we've been saying that for the last couple weeks."

As for his nose, Nowitzki said he refuses to "wear that visor thing. I'm not a big fan of that. It's a little stiff, a little sore. I might snore a little more, but it's OK."

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