It was another tale of two halves as the Dallas Mavericks picked up the energy level and engaged in scramble mode which triggered a Mavericks surge. That second half push was enough to give the Mavericks a 112-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Dallas trailed by 11 (69-58), but used a 31-12 run beginning at the 8:59 mark of the third quarter through the 10:10 mark of the fourth period to take an eight-point advantage (89-81) en route to the win.
The biggest strategic difference made by the Mavericks was the fact that they brought quick double teams to Blake Griffin whenever he received the ball. That allowed Dallas to hold Griffin to 7 second half points (15 in the first half). Prior to the game, Coach Rick Carlisle praised Griffin's performance over the first half of the season by stating Griffin has made quantum leaps on a week-to-week basis. Containing the electric forward allowed Dallas to raise their energy level and also allowed them to get into their flow offense.
With the victory, the Mavericks have now won eight straight against the Clippers, including 14 of the last 15 meetings. Dallas continued to show their dominance over the Clippers on their home floor as the Mavericks have taken the last eight match-ups in Dallas and are 25-5 in their last 31 games at home against the Clippers.
Did THAT Just Happen?!- Tyson Chandler had a perfect shooting performance as he went 5-5 from the field and 11-11 from the free throw line. He finished the game with 21 points in just 17 minutes of action. The 11 consecutive made free throws marked the most free throws he has made without a miss in his career (previous: 9 - January 21, 2005 vs Atlanta). The 21 points scored was the most scored by Chandler since January 4, 2008. It was his 14th career 20-point game. Foul trouble plagued Chandler and that got in the way of a potential career night from the center.
- Dirk Nowitzki had another tough night from the field. He had a moment though where he started to show his old form in the second quarter. He scored 8 points in the final 2:09 of the second quarter. That stretch marked his first made field goals in the game. Nowitzki also had to endure more bodily harm. Nowitzki is still recovering from his sprained knee but he also took a shot to to the left cheek that left a scratch and was hit in the head in the second half and left him with blurry vision momentarily.
- Brendan Haywood was scoreless on the evening but he still left an imprint on the game. With just 42 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, Haywood delivered a flagrant foul on Blake Griffin as he was trying to complete a spin-move into a dunk and that sent him to the ground, injuring his left elbow. The Mavericks cranked up the energy in the second half and that play symbolized that Dallas had enough of the "Blake Griffin Show." The electric forward came back in the 4th quarter (with a protective-sleeve on his elbow) but did not have the same impact as he did in the first half. The game also gave people the opportunity to see Ian Mahinmi on the floor as a power forward alongside Haywood.
- JJ Barea was a pest with his scoring and was a pest with his aggressiveness on defense. With just under 9 minutes to go in the quarter, Barea pressed on Baron Davis as they were going up the court. Initially, Davis gave a subtle elbow to Barea and the Mavericks guard ran back towards Davis to pressure him again which led to a more aggressive elbow that sent Barea to the ground. Both players exchanged glares and then Barea walked away from the situation and smiled. The situation was far from over as Coach Rick Carlisle and Davis exchanged four-letter words between each other and both received technical fouls. When asked after the game about the altercation, Carlisle did not want to speak about the situation.
- Jason Terry threw four fingers up in the air and that signified that it was his time. Terry has a knack for making the fourth quarter his quarter and that was the case against the Clippers. Jet scored 14 fourth quarter points (the Mavericks scored 31 points in the quarter) on 6-10 shooting from the field and shot 2-4 from the three-point line.
Box Score Revelations
- The Mavericks had FOUR players that scored 20 or more points (Jason Terry 28, JJ Barea 25, Tyson Chandler 21 and Dirk Nowitzki 20). It was the first time since February 18, 2009 that the Mavericks had four players score 20 or more points in a single game. It was a 113-98 victory over the New Jersey Nets that saw Josh Howard lead with 24 points, Nowitzki and Kidd had 23 points apiece and Antoine Wright had 20 points.
- It was a night of new season-highs for the Mavericks. They had a new season high in points (112), bench points (63), turnovers forced (23) and points off of turnovers (34). From a player perspective, Terry had a new season-high in points with 28 (previous high was 26) and Tyson Chandler had 21 (previous high was 19).
- There was only one lead change in the game. The Clippers took an early lead and eventually ran out to a 40-25 point lead and the Mavericks slowly chipped away to take the lead at 76-75 when Marion had a put-back dunk. The Mavericks biggest lead was 17 points and they are now 24-6 when they build a double-digit lead.
- After giving up 62 points in the first half, the Mavericks held the Clippers to only 43 second half points. The Clippers shot 16-36 in the second half with 11 turnovers. The third quarter also saw the Clippers have more turnovers (7) than made field goals (6).
- The Mavericks are now a league best 19-1 when they record 100-plus points in a game. Now, they are 21-7 when their bench outscores the opposing team's bench.
Tweetings From the Mavs Universe
- "Pretty sure this is the only time I've seen Clips jersey on fans @ the AAC in 9 yrs of season tix."
@rhylan_rowe
- "These refs suck."
@kg_veteran
- "Jason Kidd with the mad hustle!! What is this 2001?!"
@berrywilliams
- "Little JJ Barea es en fuego. He has 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Rest of Mavs: 25 points on 6-of-22 shooting."
@espn_macmahon
- "And craziness has broken out at the Sportatorium - Mavs/Clips gettin' all wrestly up in this joint"
@skindoeshoops
If You Don't Like What I Said, Read What They Said
- Carlisle on the altercation with Baron Davis: "I’m not going to talk about that. It was...whatever."
- Davis' account of the altercation: "He started cussing me out. I told him, ‘Go have some lunch.’" A food reference, interesting.
- Terry on Barea's night: "J.J. got it going. He kept us in it. It easily could have been a blowout loss for us, but he kept us in it. We could be in here sad, but for him to come out and do what he did offensively and defensively against Baron Davis was tremendous...You look at him, and I’ve got guys challenging J.J. from family friends to guys at the YMCA at the rec. They want to take his spot. But ain’t nobody taking his spot. He’s one of the toughest players on the team."
- Chandler on Haywood: "Sometimes the stat sheet doesn’t show everything that a guy is out there doing. The defense that he played against Blake, his weak-side defense, his rebounding, keeping balls alive, giving us extra shots, his physical presence, it was a huge game for him tonight."
- Carlisle on the first half: "We didn’t get off to a good start, obviously, and we’re gonna have to do better there. We weren’t ready to play at the beginning and it was clear."
- Carlisle on the second half: "The second half was way better and we did a lot of things very well. In the second half, a lot more things went our way because we became a lot more aggressive and we attacked at both ends."
BG's Baller of the Game:
Baller Status has been granted to JJ Barea. The point guard had his second 18 point half of the season with his first quarter performance (Barea had 18 in 1st half vs Milwaukee on New Year's Day). Barea was 4 points shy of tying his season high in points (29 against Milwaukee). Alongside Tyson Chandler, Barea helped carry the load for the Mavericks on the offensive end of the court. He shot 9-12 from the field and 3-4 from the three-point line, not bad for a guy who couldn't throw a penny into the ocean earlier in the season.
The Mavericks will take on the Houston Rockets on Thursday night in the second game of their four-game home-stand. Guard Kevin Martin has been a trade target for several months so fans will be able to see him live and in action. The game between the Mavericks and the Rockets will tip off at 7:30 pm CST.
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