Preview: Mavericks (8-6) at Clippers (7-4)

Earl K. Sneed reports from Los Angeles and previews the Dallas Mavericks' Wednesday night matchup against the Clippers. The defending champion Mavs have won 10 straight over the Clippers.

LOS ANGELES — Take 2.

After having their five-game win streak come to an end Monday night at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers, the defending champion Dallas Mavericks return to the scene of the crime two nights later.

Just 48 hours after Lakers guard Derek Fisher’s game-winning 3-pointer handed the Mavericks a 73-70 loss, the reigning titleholders return to the Staples Center. And looking to take their aggression out on the building’s co-tenants, the L.A. Clippers, the Mavericks (8-6) will try to get back in the win column in the second matchup on a four-game road trip.

Although Monday night’s loss may have ended in the worst way for the Mavs, losing the game and possibly swingman Vince Carter for awhile after he sprained his left foot on the final play, Wednesday night presents a new opportunity. Catching the Clippers on the third game of a back-to-back-to-back, the Mavericks figure to be the fresher team. And with the Clippers (7-4) also limping in after Tuesday night's 108-79 loss in Utah without All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who has sat out the last two games with a left hamstring injury, the Mavs will try to extend their 10-game winning streak over the upstart L.A. team.

But both squads enter the matchup after rather pedestrian offensive performances. Whereas the Clippers produced season-lows in scoring and shooting percentage (36.5 percent) against the Jazz, the Mavericks also struggled to their worst scoring output against the Lakers, hitting on just 35 percent from the field themselves.

“We couldn’t make a shot pretty much the whole night,” said point guard Jason Kidd, who missed eight of his nine shots in the game. “I thought defensively we were competing. Sometimes you have to make shots, too, in this league and we just couldn’t do it [Monday night]. … It was just an ugly game, but you want to win those ugly games. We just couldn’t make a shot and they made the big shot at the end.”

Dallas remained in the game behind its defense, however, holding the league’s leading scorer, Kobe Bryant, to just 14 points on 7-of-22 shooting and the Lakers to 38.2 percent as a team. Wednesday night, the Mavericks will once again call on their defense against All-Star forward Blake Griffin, who is coming off a season-worst 10 points, 11.9 points below his season average.

Still, the Mavs will try to turn defensive stops into offense at the other end, looking to get back on track before heading to Salt Lake City on the second night of a back-to-back to face the same Utah squad that just knocked off the Clippers.

"Well, we're building momentum with our defense,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Right now we're No. 3 in the league, which is significant, and we're No. 2 in the last 21 days. Those are positive things. I feel like we're building some team toughness, but we've got to continue with it and understand that's gonna be the key to our improvement and success."

He added: "We've just got to keep playing. We missed our fair share of shots (against the Lakers) that we normally make and we made some tough ones. So, there's a mixture of things. But right now, with the way things are, we can't bellyache about missed shots. We've got to continue with the defense and know that if we keep doing the right things at the defensive end our offense is gonna come around."

The Mavericks return to the Staples Center for Wednesday night’s matchup with the Clippers, in a game that will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest and nationally on ESPN at 9:30 p.m. CT.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Dr. Pepper Family Nights are here! Plans include four Mavs tickets and four McDonald’s extra value meals, starting at $49. Visit mavs.com or call 214-747-MAVS for a schedule of games and to purchase tickets.