Dirk Nowitzki and the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks are being given little chance of making it out of their first-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are younger, longer, quicker and have a couple guys named Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, the NBA scoring champion three times over at the ripe old age of 23.

What's an old man to do? Nowitzki is taking a laid-back, Lebowski-like approach to this year's Dallas playoff run:

Dirk on another run in the Playoffs: "We’ll just see what happens, let it all hang out."

— Bryan Gutierrez (@BallinWithBryan) April 28, 2012

After a season without defensive mainstay Tyson Chandler, and in which the Mavericks thought they got a big help in Lamar Odom, who ended up being a big pain, this is really the only approach a veteran team can take. In last year's Finals, Dallas did let it all hang out, throwing beautiful, innovative offensive sets and plenty of junk defense at the favored Miami Heat, so why not cut loose again?

For all the latest news and notes about the Mavericks playoff run, head over to Mavs Moneyball while Welcome To Loud City has everything you need to know about the Thunder.