Recap: Clippers 92 at Mavericks 96

Earl K. Sneed recaps the Dallas Mavericks' home victory Monday night over the Los Angeles Clippers. The defending champs extended their winning streak to four despite a big night from former Maverick Caron Butler in his return to Dallas.

DALLAS — Winners of three straight entering Monday night’s matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, the defending champion Dallas Mavericks looked to keep things going with a formidable foe in town. And after suffering a last-second road loss to the Clippers on Jan. 18, the Mavericks also stepped on their home hardwood with revenge on their minds.

Looking to avenge a 91-89 road loss last month, the Mavericks took the court against All-Stars Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and the Clippers seeking retribution. But first the organization honored ex-Maverick Caron Butler by presenting the two-time All-Star with a championship ring, despite the fact that a midseason ruptured patellar tendon caused him to miss the team’s journey to the title.

“This will be great tonight to recognize his contributions to the club, not just last year but the last two years,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said before Butler’s return to Dallas. “And even though he didn’t play after Jan. 1, he was a daily source of inspiration for all our guys just to see how he was approaching it and just for trying to get back. I mean, it was a great thing to be around and remarkable to see.”

“I was very emotional,” Butler added after receiving his hardware. “I didn’t think I was going to be as emotional. Having Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle, the whole standing ovation, it was just unbelievable. It was a great feeling and I almost cried. I had to put my head down a couple of times to try to gather myself.”

After Butler accepted his ring and the pregame emotions settled, he would go on to produce his best scoring night of the season. Still, it would be the Mavericks getting their revenge from the narrow loss in L.A. And with an impressive defensive stand down the stretch, the Mavericks (18-11) collected their fourth straight win with a 96-92 victory. It was also the Mavs’ 10th straight home win over the Clippers.

After going 1-of-12 from the field for just two points the first go-round, Butler looked for a better showing against his old team. Meanwhile, the Mavericks faced a different squad in the second showdown with Chauncey Billups, the shooter on the game-winning 3-pointer in the first meeting, out for the season due to a torn Achilles while Paul returned after missing that January showdown due to a left hamstring injury.

A thunderous slam by swingman Vince Carter got the Mavs off to a quick start. But back-to-back 3-pointers by Butler helped the former Mav exceed his scoring output from the first meeting early in the opening quarter. The swingman would later continue his assault from the outside with a third triple from behind the arc in the quarter.

“I was in a real good place and it felt good. I just really wanted to come back and step on this floor, one way or another, and just show the fans that I was back healthy. There was a lot of love out there, and I appreciate that because they got me through a trying time last year,” Butler said of his quick start.

Still, with center Brendan Haywood proving to be a force inside at both ends of the floor while scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds in the period, the Mavericks headed into the second stanza with a 27-19 lead.

“Again, a lot was made of missing Tyson Chandler and what that void would mean to us, but Brendan Haywood has done an outstanding job,” reserve guard Jason Terry said with high praise for his big man. "He was an integral part of our success last year and I think that has gone overlooked. I think he’s stepped up and we’ve done it by committee after him with out bigs.”

The second period would be a different story, however, as the Clippers (17-9) charged back within two behind the play of their bench. But the Mavs would respond with a spurt of their own after getting a boost from a technical foul call on Paul. And after surviving three fouls for leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki, Griffin’s highlight reel finishes and Paul’s engineering, the Mavs escaped the first half with a 55-47 advantage.

Going blank in the second quarter, Haywood was matched by forward Shawn Marion with 10 points to lead the Mavs into the break while Nowitzki battled foul trouble. Meanwhile, Butler’s 13 points and Griffin’s 12 through two quarters came on a combined 10-for-20 from the field, although the Mavericks’ 57.9 percent shooting bettered the Clippers’ 45 percent. And despite being outrebounded, 23-19, the Mavs held a 28-16 margin in points in the paint.

After foul trouble forced him to the bench in the first half, Nowitzki began the third quarter by putting the Mavericks up by 10. But as it did in the first half, Butler’s lights-out shooting kept the Clippers in the game as Marion concentrated on taking Paul out of the mix with lockdown defense.

“Marion guarding Paul was a big key to the game,” Carlisle explained. “His size becomes a factor, and it’s tough navigating all those screen-and-rolls, but he [Marion] did a great job when he was on him [Paul] tonight and that was a big part of the game as well.”

Still, the Clippers continued to charge back, using a 15-4 run to take the lead on the scoreboard as Butler continued to torch his former squad while passing his previous season-high of 22 points. Threes by newcomers Lamar Odom and Carter kept the Mavs in the game, however, before Odom’s one-handed lob pass to fellow reserve Brandan Wright brought the fans out of their seats. But it wouldn’t be enough to keep the Mavericks from facing a 76-74 deficit entering the game’s final quarter, as the reigning titleholders tried to end a 0-9 record when trailing after three.

After a sluggish start, Terry made his presence felt and put the Mavs back up with a three early in the fourth. But the intensity level would begin to mirror that of a playoff game as Paul led a 7-0 Clippers run to go back in front. A Nowitzki 3-pointer then stopped the bleeding and got the Mavs back within one before the 7-footer connected on 2-of-3 at the free throw line to regain the momentum after Kenyon Martin fouled the All-Star forward on a shot behind the arc.

Responding to L.A.’s run with seven unanswered points of their own, the Mavericks then forced Griffin to hit free throws with a “hack-a-Blake” strategy. Point guard Jason Kidd then found a cutting Terry to put the Mavs up 88-84 as the Mavs stood 2:02 from a fourth straight win.

After a stretch of nine stops in 10 defensive possessions, however, the Mavs couldn’t contain the Clippers’ athleticism as Griffin’s and-1 dunk and Martin’s transition score forced Carlisle to call a timeout with his team up just one, 90-89, with 1:00 still on the clock. Nowitzki came right back, though, draining a jumper before a defensive stop and then two more shots at the charity stripe to put the Mavericks up by five with 21.2 ticks still remaining.

The Mavs weren’t out of the woods safe just yet, however, as Paul swished a desperation 3-pointer and Carlisle called timeout with his team up just two with 11.9 seconds left. But the Mavs had to survive one more scare as Kidd’s inbound pass was intercepted leading to Butler’s miss from behind the arc with Delonte West grabbing the rebound and making two free throws to extend the lead with 2.9 seconds remaining. With the game all but decided, Paul’s desperation attempt at the buzzer would have done no good even if it had found the bottom of the net as the Dallas defense forced stops on 12 of the final 16 L.A. possessions.

“I’ll take us over anybody in a fourth-quarter type ballgame and I believe we’ll come out winning more times than not,” Terry empathically proclaimed.

“The Mavericks are a good team,” Griffin added, “especially at home. We didn’t execute down the stretch and that’s what did it.”

Despite going just 5-of-15 from the field and 11-of-15 at the foul line, Nowitzki finished with a team-high 22 points with 11 coming in the fourth.

“I had some shots I’ve got to make and I missed four free throws. Obviously, the early foul trouble didn’t help my rhythm much, but I had some looks I’ve just gotta make. I didn’t really have a great rhythm there, but we had enough stops and we got a little lucky at the end,” Nowitzki said of his night.

Marion added 16 points, while Haywood, Carter and Terry all finished with 10 points apiece.

In his return, Butler scored a season-high 23 points on 7-of-18 from the field. Griffin added 20 points and Paul registered 16 points and nine assists, committing five turnovers as well.

The Clippers finished the night outshooting the Mavs, 44.6 percent to 44.3 percent, in addition to a 50-36 rebounding advantage. But the Mavericks finished with a 40-34 advantage in points in the paint and a 22-16 edge in fast-break points. The Dallas defense also forced nine of the Clippers’ 21 turnovers in the fourth quarter, scoring 22 points off the miscues in the game compared to the 10 points they surrendered on their own 11 giveaways.

“A big challenge for us coming into the game — coming off of 43 turnovers in two games — was to get our turnovers down, and of course, we always want to force turnovers if we can. We did a good job in the scope of the entire game with only 11 and that was big. Defensively, I give the guys a lot of credit. This is one of the tougher teams to guard with Chris Paul and all the pick-and-rolls, Griffin and the highflyers, and Mo Williams and [Randy] Foye can shoot the ball. They’ve got a lot of answers out there. They made the big run, they got us down three or four points. We held it together, we kept our poise and the guys just kept working. It was defense that got us over the hump,” Carlisle concluded.

The Mavs now return to action when they host the Denver Nuggets at the American Airlines Center Wednesday night. The two teams are tied at 1-1 in the season series with both winning on the other’s home floor. The game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

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.