Clippers-Mavericks Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Feb 13 2012 9:56AM

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul say their partnership continues to be a work in progress, but it's been pretty impressive on the Los Angeles Clippers road trip.

The duo will try to lead the Clippers to their first win in Dallas in more than five years Monday night when they close an already successful trip against the Mavericks.

Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles improved to 4-1 on its trip with a 111-86 rout of lowly Charlotte on Saturday. The Clippers (17-8), winners of eight of 10, had little trouble against the NBA's worst team, topping 110 points for the third time this season while shooting 52.6 percent.

Griffin had 21 points and 10 rebounds before leaving with a little more than six minutes remaining. He had several highlight-reel dunks and alley-oop plays with Paul, who had 18 points and a season high-tying 14 assists in 30 minutes.

"We're still working on it, but it's a lot of fun," Paul said of his relationship with Griffin. "With his basketball IQ, you can learn on the fly like that. This team was thrown together within a month, so as much as looks like we've figured each other out and know everything about each other, we don't."

Paul is averaging 21.8 points and 9.5 assists the last four games while Griffin has five straight double-doubles.

Even with Paul sitting out due to a strained hamstring, the Clippers were still able to snap a 10-game losing streak to the Mavericks with a 91-89 victory Jan. 18 as Chauncey Billups hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with one second left.

Winning in Dallas won't be any easier. Los Angeles has lost nine in a row there since an 85-71 victory on April 19, 2006. Griffin averaged 22.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in his last two games there.

Unsurprisingly, Dirk Nowitzki has been a major factor in that losing streak. Dallas is 19-2 at home when he plays against the Clippers and the Mavericks haven't lost to them at home with Nowitzki available since 2003.

Nowitzki didn't have his best night in Dallas' 97-94 double-overtime win over Portland on Saturday. He finished with 20 points, but shot 7 of 20 after averaging 28.0 points on 60.6 percent from the field in the previous four games.

With their leading scorer struggling to find his form, the Mavericks got a huge lift from Delonte West, who scored Dallas' first six points in the second overtime with the team looking lethargic on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Mavericks had 23 turnovers while their starters shot 38.5 percent. Shawn Marion had 14 points and 12 rebounds, but shot 5 of 14.

"We're used to close ballgames and being a veteran team doing what we have to do to get the win," Jason Terry told the Mavericks' official website. "You would have liked to have seen us kind of close things out, but it didn't happen."

Dallas has split its last six games, which have been decided by an average of 7.2 points. The Mavericks have won three in a row and six of nine, but have only one winning streak this season longer than three games.

"We've still got a long ways to go," Nowitzki said. "(The Clippers) beat us there a couple of weeks ago on a last-second shot. They're obviously very athletic and they're led by one of the best point guards in this league ... So, another tough test, but we want to get back to protecting our home court."

Nowitzki, Marion lift Mavs over Clippers 96-92

Posted Feb 14 2012 12:59AM

DALLAS (AP) The Dallas Mavericks went to a familiar script down the stretch, leaning on Dirk Nowitzki to supply crunch-time offense.

Nowitzki scored 22 points, 11 in the final 6-plus minutes, Shawn Marion added 16, and the Mavericks held on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 96-92 on Monday night.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle has praised his team's balance on offense this season, but Nowitzki's still the go-to guy with the game on the line.

"He's the classic case of a great player and you just stay the course," Carlisle said. "I played with Larry Bird for three years and there were nights when he'd go 2 for 13 and then hit the last three shots to win the game. Dirk's the same kind of guy."

Jason Terry, Vince Carter and Brendan Haywood all contributed 10 points for the Mavs, who've won 10 in a row at home against the Clippers and extended their overall winning streak to four games.

Caron Butler of the Clippers scored a season-high 23 points against his former team, and just missed a 3-pointer with less than 5 seconds left that would have put the Clippers in front. Teammate Blake Griffin added 20 points, but Griffin's problems from the free-throw line cost his team as he missed seven of nine foul shots.

"He's been shooting it real well," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "I was surprised they went to foul him. ... It was just one of those nights."

Chris Paul had 16 points and nine assists for the Clippers, who completed a 4-2 road trip. They haven't beaten the defending NBA champs in Dallas since April 19, 2006.

Dallas took control with a 7-0 fourth-quarter run capped by Marion's layup with 4:48 remaining for an 86-83 edge.

Griffin had a chance to get the Clippers closer, but missed five straight free throws until connecting with 2:15 to play to pull his team within two points at 86-84.

Jason Kidd set up Terry for a layup with 2:02 left, and Nowitzki intercepted Griffin's pass with 1:47 showing, and drained two free throws to extend Dallas' edge to 90-84.

Griffin's three-point play with 1:24 remaining and Kenyon Martin's layup with 1 minute left narrowed the Mavericks' lead to 90-89.

Nowitzki drained a 19-footer from the right wing and, after Marion stole the ball from Martin, converted two free throws with 21.2 seconds left for a 94-89 advantage.

"I had some looks I've got to make," said Nowitzki, who missed five of seven shots in the final quarter, but got to the free-throw line seven times, converting six.

Paul's 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds got the Clippers within two points, and Butler's 3-pointer from the right wing missed with 4.5 seconds left.

"It felt real good," Butler said of his final shot. "I had my feet under me. It just fell short. It would have been a great ending."

Delonte West made two free throws with 2.9 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Dallas' defense came up big in the fourth quarter, causing seven turnovers and limiting the Clippers to 5-of-15 shooting from the floor and making it tough for Paul to pass his signature lob passes for dunks by Griffin.

"We take it to heart as a team," Haywood said of the Mavs' defense. "We don't want teams coming on our home floor showboating. When a team comes in like this, we want to make it hard to get to the rim."

Haywood worked inside for 10 of Dallas' first 22 points and the Mavs carried a 27-19 lead into the second quarter.

Butler, who received a championship ring from the Mavs in pregame ceremonies, got rolling early when he connected on his first three 3-point attempts in the first quarter.

Carlisle introduced Butler to the crowd before the game, and hugged Butler as the player tried on his ring.

"It was more emotional than I thought it would be," Butler said.

The Clippers ended a 10-game overall losing streak against the Mavs on Jan. 18 with a 91-89 win in Los Angeles. Chauncey Billups hit the winning 3-pointer with 1 second left. Billups is out for the season with a torn left Achilles' tendon sustained in a game on Feb. 6.

Notes: Butler was a member of the Mavericks' title-winning team last season but missed the final 53 games of the regular season plus the playoffs with a ruptured right patellar tendon. Butler, signed by the Clippers in December as a free agent, made a spirited effort to get his knee healthy enough to contribute for Dallas in the playoffs and Carlisle said before the game that Butler "was very close to being active for the finals. That's how hard he worked." ... Martin, who grew up in Dallas, played his fourth game for the Clippers since signing as a free agent on Feb. 3. ... Before the game, Carlisle called Paul "the best playmaker in basketball."

Notebook: Mavericks 96, Clippers 92

Posted Tuesday February 14, 2012 12:13AM

By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Weak free-throw shooting by Blake Griffin and a strong fourth quarter by Dirk Nowitzki added up to yet another defeat in Dallas for the Los Angeles Clippers, who dropped their 10th straight road game against the Mavericks, 96-92, on Monday night.

Caron Butler had a season-high 23 points for the Clippers and Griffin scored 20 despite missing his first seven foul shots, including five in the final quarter. He finished 2-for-9 at the stripe. Nowitzki was only 5-for-15 from the field, but scored 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks were killed on the boards (50-36), making up for it with 22 points off 21 turnovers.

QUOTABLE: "We're very happy with the way that we're playing right now. People are coming to play defensively and guys are getting better every day. We're winning games against tough teams."
-- Center Brendan Haywood on the Mavericks' four-game winning streak.

THE STAT: The Mavericks won for the first time this season when they were behind entering the fourth quarter (0-9 before Monday). The Clippers were up 76-74 after three periods.

TURNING POINT: With 9.8 seconds left and Dallas leading 94-92, Jason Kidd attempted a long inbounds pass that was intercepted by Chris Paul. Paul pushed the ball upcourt and found Butler at the 3-point line. Butler was 5-for-9 behind the arc at that point and had a decent look, but was off the mark and got Kidd off the hook.

QUOTABLE II: "We got a good look, so Caron pulled up. He had been shooting it pretty well for the night and hit some big shots, so I had no problem with that."
-- Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro on the decision not to call a timeout after the steal by Paul.

QUOTABLE III: "It felt real good. I got my feet up under me, followed through. It was a routine shot, just fell a little short."
-- Butler on his missed 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds remaining.

HOT: The Mavs have been playing stingy defense lately, particularly in the early going. The Clippers scored 19 points in the first quarter, the fourth time in the last five games that Dallas has held its opponent to fewer than 20 in the opening period. The Mavericks only held three teams below 20 in their first 24 games. Dallas is 6-1 in those games.

NOT: Griffin is shooting just 52.2 percent (96-for-184) at the charity stripe this season, down from 64.2 percent during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2010-11.

GOOD MOVE: Shawn Marion, the Mavericks' most versatile defender, drew another tough assignment against the smaller, quicker Paul and held his own. Both players finished with 16 points. Paul dished nine assists, but also committed a team-high five turnovers.

BAD MOVE: The Clippers turned it over nine times in the fourth quarter alone, allowing the Mavericks to pull out the victory despite shooting 31.7 percent (13-for-41) in the second half.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Haywood scored all 10 of his points in the first quarter and topped Dallas with nine rebounds. ... Mo Williams contributed 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench for L.A. Kenyon Martin scored in double figures for the first time with his new team, tallying 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

NOTABLE: The Mavericks gave Butler his 2011 NBA championship ring before the game. He played 29 games for Dallas last season before suffering a ruptured patellar tendon on New Year's Day, ending his season. ... Los Angeles finished 4-2 on its road trip. ... The Clippers haven't won in Dallas since April 19, 2006. ... The Mavericks are 12-1 when Marion scores at least 13 points. ... Dallas hasn't trailed by more than four points during its four-game winning streak. ... Kidd played in his 1,286th career game, tying former Maverick Sam Perkins for 13th place on the all-time list.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Wednesday vs. Denver, Friday @ Philadelphia, Sunday @ New York. For the Clippers, Wednesday vs. Washington, Thursday @ Portland, Saturday vs. San Antonio.

• Clippers: Billups
• Mavericks: Jones, Williams

• Clippers: Paul
• Mavericks: Mathis, West

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #33 Zach Zarba, #68 Marat Kogut
• Attendance: 20436
• Duration: 2:22