By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com
      With the Oscars coming up, it’s fitting that Antoine Walker would be taking in the filmography of big-screen heartthrob Steve Nash.
      Walker says he’s trying to learn some new tricks to better fit into Nellie’s offense, so he’s been studying film of Nash and trying to emulate the pure point-guard work of the Mavs’ All-Star quarterback.
      Good thinking, Roger Ebert – as long as you don’t forget what got you here.
      For all the things Walker can do, he has always been, at the core, a cold-blooded gunner. Yes, he has unusually good handles for a 6-9 guy, and when he’s thinking “distribute first,’’ as Nash does, he excels at running the offense. Yes, he’s got a post-up game. Yes, he rebounds. And yes, at times he even plays decent man-on defense.
      But by reputation, what Walker is most of all is a guy who is dying to be the one to take the game-winner.
      And so it was Tuesday in Seattle, where the Mavs rode Dirk Nowitzki’s freaky-good 43-point performance throughout, received nice individual defensive plays down the stretch from Josh Howard (twice), Nowitzki (on an altered layup) and Michael Finley (a blocked shot of Ray Allen’s potential game-winning runner with 3 seconds left), and then, at the buzzer, allowed Walker to launch a catch-and-shoot, off-balance fadeaway, bad-angle-in-the-corner 22-footer to win it, 118-116.
      “(Nellie) drew up the last play for me, and that shot in the corner is one of my go-to moves," Walker said.
      Sure it is, son.
      Part of Walker’s story is true. Nowitzki was so fantastically hot that Nellie figured the Sonics would be draped all over him as Dallas inbounded with 1.6 seconds remaining. So Dirk played decoy and Finley instead dumped to Walker, who gets credit for a sweet shooting touch, a knowledge of how quickly he had to release, and some luck as well.
      Oh, and he gets credit, too, for breaking out the “wiggle’’ – his true go-to move, the hot-doggy shimmy that was featured in Boston but pooh-poohed here by Nellie – at an appropriate time:
      On a game-winner.
      The Mavs have clearly come together during this NBA-best nine-game winning streak, and they have done so in part by winning tighties like this one. Dallas is 7-0 during the streak in games decided by nine points or less, the sort of nail-biting experience that figures to come in handy this spring.
      "If you look back a month or a month and a half, there is no way we would have won that game," Nowitzki said. "The chemistry is a lot better out there, we have the rhythm out there as a team. I think we are just having a good mix right now."
      As is often the case with Dallas, the post-game analysis focused on the offense and poked fun at the defense. The former is justified; Nowitzki in particular was breathtaking, making 16-of-22 shots, and 8-of-11 from the arc, almost as if to send notice to the NBA’s All-Star ballot counters. Only his two missed free throws in the final moments (and a nasty blow to the head on another late drive to the hole) marred his evening.
      "They have three All-Stars,’’ said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. “Do you see three on our team? "We're not like the Mavericks. We're hoping our guys can develop into that. But we don't have three All-Stars."
      The Mavs don’t have anyone who will qualify for the NBA’s All-Defensive Team, of course. Still, it is worth noting that Dirk’s defensive presence caused Rashard Lewis to miss a late layup. And that Josh Howard (eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block) ruined a pair of fourth-quarter Seattle possessions). And that the much-maligned Shawn Bradley continued his game-changing ways.
     This is the kind of game that gives a team momentum (as if the Mavs need it!). It is also the sort of result from Walker (who totaled 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists) that figures to keep his wiggle-engine running, that keeps him working at the little things, all the time knowing he’ll still get his chance to do the big ones.
      Good job, ‘Toine. We’ll see you. … At The Movies.