Rowan Kavner
DALLAS – One of the best players to ever play in the NBA came to mind for head coach Doc Rivers as he watched his star center pull down rebound after rebound.
On a night where DeAndre Jordan secured a career-high 27 boards, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle couldn’t help but think of the same all-time great as Rivers.
“It was a problem – the guy had 27 rebounds,” Carlisle said. “He looked like Wilt Chamberlain out there playing in 1963 – really, he did. He played great, and we didn’t have any answers.”
Those comparisons to Chamberlain came from what Jordan was able to do on the glass, but it’s his offensive efficiency that could put him right next to Chamberlain in the record books in a certain category after the season. Jordan’s made at least 50 percent of his shots in 38 straight games, a feat that’s never been done before in NBA history.
Chamberlain’s 72.7 percent shooting from the field during the 1972-73 season was the highest in NBA history prior to this year. Jordan entered Monday’s game with the exact same shooting percentage as Chamberlain’s all-time mark, and he only added to it with an 8-for-12 performance, in which he scored 22 points to go along with his 27 rebounds and three blocks.
“I don’t know why people don’t vote for him (for the All-Star Game),” Rivers said. “It’s too late, but my gosh, 22 and 27, he was dominant. He was guarding guards defensively. He just did everything for us.”
Jordan joked how Jamal Crawford’s extended handshake before the game must’ve rubbed off some of the guard’s offensive firepower.
Whatever the reason, Jordan took advantage of a Mavs team that lost Tyson Chandler early in the night to injury by recording his second game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds during the road trip.
“It’s just not done a lot,” Rivers said. “If he keeps going as he is, him and Wilt Chamberlain will be the only two with back-to-back years like that, and nobody notices him. It’s amazing to me that no one notices DeAndre Jordan. I don’t know how you can get 22 and 27 and no one notices. He’s just going to keep doing his job. He’s so important for us, and he knows that, and we know that.”
By we, Rivers is referring to the entire Clippers team. Matt Barnes backed up that statement.
“He’s amazing,” Barnes said. “I think he’s making people rethink that All-Star snub. When he plays like that, we’re a hard team to beat.”
Something about Mondays seem to suit Jordan.
This Monday, he helped take care of the Mavericks. Last Monday, he recorded 22 points and 20 rebounds in Brooklyn, but that ended in a two-point loss.
“This one feels a lot better,” he said. “The other one was cool, but it’s wasn’t as cool because I really get to celebrate this one on the plane ride home with a win.”
Jordan said the Clippers have watched a lot of film the past couple days to figure out how to get out of the four-game skid. His focus, per usual, has been on limiting what the opponent can do offensively, and the Clippers were able to do that by holding the Mavs to fewer than 100 points in the win.
He added that the Clippers have been mentally tough in spurts, but the great teams are able to be that way every night, and he believes the Clippers have the pieces to accomplish that.
“Before the game, Doc said we have all the excuses to quit or not come out with the right energy or the right mindset, but we did the exact opposite,” Jordan said. “We made a couple runs and then they came back and made some more and we stayed with it and kept getting stops and ultimately we won the game. That was big for us.”
As the Clippers rebounded from four straight losses, Jordan was busy with the actual rebounding.
No player had more than 25 rebounds in a game this season before Jordan’s historic night on the glass. He finished three rebounds short of tying the Clippers’ all-time record in a game, set in 1988 by Michael Cage, and it was the first time an NBA player recorded at least 22 points and 27 rebounds in a game since Timofey Mozgov in April 2014.
Jordan’s previous career high in rebounds in a game was 24. He got to snap that personal record in front of his mother, who was in the crowd watching.
“It was great,” Jordan said. “Any time my family is able to come and watch me play it’s always good, especially when I play well. That’s a plus.”
