SAN FRANCISCO -- Losing is no fun for Dirk Nowitzki. But waking up and going to the gym still is.

Razzing teammates in the locker room? Still is.

Heck, even watching film? Still is.

While the losses have mounted in a season that has been hard to watch at times, but promising at other moments, Nowitzki opened up on Thursday and said that the 8-20 record going into Thursday’s game at Golden State has not dampened his enthusiasm.

Not for this season. Or next season.

“I’m not going to say 100 percent I’ll be back -- but it’s looking like it,” Nowitzki said after the Mavericks had a morning walk-through at the Olympic Club in downtown San Francisco. “I feel fine so far. I’ve played every game. I’d love to play all 82. That would be amazing at [age] 39. We’ll see how the body feels. But so far, it’s been fine.”

Nowitzki has been reluctant to speculate on his playing status beyond this season. He signed a two-year contract in July for $5 million per season, with the 2018-19 season at the team’s option.

But if Nowitzki wants to play it, obviously, the team would honor the deal.

On Thursday, he talked about the possibilities and why a rugged start to the season hasn’t altered his desire about next season.

He knew when Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut left last season that the team was deep into a retooling mode and he was prepared for it -- at least as best as a champion can be prepared for it.

“We drafted an unbelievable prospect this summer [Dennis Smith Jr.],” he said. “I figured we’re going to be a team that’s rebuilding a little bit and trying to get better and trying to get back to winning ways.

“I signed up for, obviously, two years to help the franchise push through that and get better. I didn’t think we would be sitting here 10 [games] over .500. I mean, I wasn’t delusional. We felt like we might have a shot at sneaking into the playoffs. And we still do. We’ve played the toughest schedule in basketball to this point.

“As long as my body feels fine like it has so far, with no setbacks like last year when I missed two months, I’m looking forward to hopefully fulfilling my contract.”

That’s about as strong as Nowitzki wants to get less than 30 games into this season. He knows how demanding the NBA schedule can be.

Along those lines, he did emphasize that "this will be for sure my last contract.”

And he plans on getting the most of it.

Nowitzki has shocked everybody -- even some folks in the organization -- by playing every game so far. He’s been very consistent, averaging 25 minutes, 11.1 points and shooting 41.6 percent from 3-point range, the second-best mark of his career.

Clearly, he can still do some things in his 20th season on the court to be productive.

“My goal was to try to enjoy it,” he said of his last two seasons. “Obviously, that’s a little tough at times. But you got to enjoy the grind, the daily film sessions, helping the guys out. I still enjoy my teammates on the practice court, clowning around in the locker room. I still love that and it’s for sure something I’m going to miss one day.”

The way the Mavericks have played in the last month also has had an impact on Nowitzki. He’s seen a team that wasn’t prepared to -- and didn’t know how to -- win games in October turn into a group that has gone 6-6 since Nov. 18.

Even at 8-20, they are only 5½ games out of the playoffs as eight of the 15 teams in the Western Conference are under .500.

But Nowitzki is no Pollyanna. He knows that the hole the Mavericks have dug is going to be very difficult to escape.

“When the schedule turns around for us, we got to find ways to be a little better down the stretch and not give some of those games away,” he said. “What are we, 1-12 in games decided by under five points? We just got to be better in those games.”

Actually, they are 2-13 in games decided by eight points or fewer. But why split hairs. His point is well taken. And he is ever-hopeful that the recent play will set this team up to play meaningful games in terms of getting into the playoff picture in January and beyond.

“Similar to last year, we started out pretty brutal and we came to within 2 ½ games out of the eight spot,” Nowitzki said. “It was a heck of a run. Being consistent and playing hard. I’m expecting the same thing this year. Hopefully, we’ll get some of our injured bodies back and make a run at this.”

Twitter: @ESefko