Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, recovering from a strained right Achilles tendon, told ESPN.com on Thursday that he has begun to resume on-court work as he moves toward a return to the lineup.But Nowitzki stressed that hell need to get through a full-speed practice or two this weekend with no setbacks before hes cleared to play.Its definitely better, but I really havent done much yet, Nowitzki told ESPN.com. Today was good, but we didnt go anything close to full speed. Just started moving on the court a bit.We dont want to rush anything and go back to where we were last week. So if I feel anything this weekend, theyre going to ease off again. Obviously I want to play in the Garden on Monday (against the Knicks) and I want to play in Boston (on Wednesday) -- two of my favorite road spots. But I just dont know at this point if its going to happen.Nowitzki suffered the Achilles strain in the Mavericks season opener at Indiana on Oct. 26. After missing the next two games due to illness, Nowitzki struggled with his movement in a road defeat Nov. 2 at Utah and again in a home loss Nov. 4 to Portland before shutting things down at halftime against the Blazers.While the Mavericks were in California this week, splitting road games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, Nowitzki stayed behind in Dallas to receive treatment from his personal German physiotherapist Jens Joppich.On Nov. 5, the Mavericks announced that Nowitzki, 38, would miss at least one week due to the Achilles discomfort.Dallas has reached the playoffs in 15 of the past 16 seasons. The lone exception was 2012-13, when Nowitzki, who ranks as the NBAs sixth-all-time leading scorer, missed the opening two months after needing arthroscopic knee surgery.? Anders Lee Jersey .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Pat LaFontaine Islanders Jersey . 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New Zealand 200 (Raval 55, Rahat 4-62) and 108 for 2 (Williamson 61) beat Pakistan 133 (Misbah 31, de Grandhomme 6-41) and 171 (Sohail 40, Wagner 3-34, Boult 3-37) by eight wickets Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDebutant opener Jeet Raval batted with focus to overcome a testing period against the new ball and took New Zealand to an eight-wicket victory in Christchurch. He had his captain Kane Williamson, who made 61 off 77 balls, for company for most of the chase of 105 and hit the winning runs shortly after lunch to seal a 1-0 lead in the series.Raval finished unbeaten on 36 to go with his first-innings 55, the highest score of the Test. New Zealands other debutant, Colin de Grandhomme, was Man of the Match for taking seven wickets in the Test; his 6 for 41 in the first innings was a New Zealand record on debut.What could have been a tricky chase had New Zealand lost early wickets on the fourth morning turned into a cruise as Raval and Williamson added 85 for the second wicket. Once the new ball had been dealt with, both batsmen were able to play shots, though Raval remained cautious while Williamson was more attacking. While runs had been difficult to come by on the second and third days, the pitch had eased out considerably on the fourth, with little seam, swing or spin on offer.Williamson played firm cuts and delicate, late dabs before falling when the scores were level. Raval hit the winning runs by pulling Yasir Shah to the midwicket boundary as New Zealand ended a four-match losing streak. YYasir ended the match with figures of 0 for 61; his first wicketless Test after taking 116 in 19 matches.ddddddddddddThat the match went into the second session was due to some adventurous lower-order batting from Pakistan in the first hour. Sohail Khan, who has only one half-century in 115 first-class innings, had begun throwing his bat around on the third evening, and he continued to do so first thing this morning by taking seven off the first two balls. When there was width, Sohail slashed, and when it was full, he drove, contributing 40 to an eighth-wicket stand of 53 with Asad Shafiq.He was eventually caught pulling to backward square leg in the seventh over of the day, after Pakistan had added 29.Shafiq, on 8, had survived a caught behind appeal while attempting an expansive drive off Neil Wagner. Though the appeal wasnt spontaneous, there was a sound as the ball passed the bat, but New Zealand couldnt refer the decision because they had no reviews left.After Sohails dismissal, Shafiq took his chances to get as many runs as possible and did not shield the tail. He was out pulling to Raval, who ran in from deep midwicket and dived forward to take the catch just before the ball hit the turf.Rahat was the last man dismissed when he tamely lobbed a catch to short leg. Wagner, who had become the second-fastest New Zealand bowler to 100 Test wickets, finished with 3 for 34. ' ' '