Four playoff trips in five years together, Dallas is still fighting desperately working hard to compete with little more than plan-B free agents and a passionate desire to make the most of Dirk Nowitzki's final seasons in the league. It is hard to say exactly how long Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have been living on borrowed time. 

Nowitzki suffering from frequent achilles soreness, the Mavs won just twice in their first seven tries and the floating offense that always kept them in tune seems sunk. Nearly a decade after it should have been over, Dallas' run of respectability is finally, reluctantly tailing off.

On their proprietary calculations, there's a 73 percent chance Dallas won't make the playoffs. That leaves little room for hope, but survival and a postseason trip are still possible according to an article on Fansided.

Nowitzki travels to his native Germany, the birthplace of Regenokine therapy, in early December. He was attended to by doctors Julio Reinecke and Peter Wehling, the inventors of the controversial recuperative procedure which can be the solution to relieve his pain in his achilles.

On the other hand,his longtime trainer Holger Geschwindner is, as always, at his side, fashioning a makeshift balance beam out of a mop handle and piles of magazines. He forces Nowitzki to stand on it and shoot blindfolded while he hits him with trashcan lids in the waiting room. It is quite brutal to think about it but its been said.

Either way, whether the Dallas Mavericks make it or not in the Playoffs, one thing is for sure and that Dirk Nowitzki cements the era and his career. Nowitzki has always been a maverick and swapping him to another team won't be possible anytime now, as he assured the organization that he would retire in the state.

Is it the end for Dirk Nowitzki and the mavs? According to a report in Jobs & Hire, time and progress will tell on how the Mark Cuban and the team will shuffle and try to fit the pieces of the puzzle trying to be contenders again for the NBA championships.