The Dallas Mavericks will play host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday for the first of consecutive games at Dallas between the Western Conference counterparts.
The Mavericks wrap up a six-game homestand with the two games against the Clippers. The Thursday and Saturday contests also cap the season series between the teams, which began with a back-to-back in L.A. in November. The Clippers won the first 97-91, followed by a 112-104 Mavericks victory in overtime.
Plenty has changed since those games, most notably the Clippers losing Paul George to an elbow injury. George scored 29 and 26 points in the two meetings with Dallas but has missed all but two games since Dec. 8 and every game starting Dec. 26.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said the organization is awaiting word on George’s scheduled Feb. 24 MRI to evaluate the seven-time All-Star’s prospects of a return this season.
Los Angeles arrived in Dallas having lost three of its last four, including a 135-109 defeat at Memphis on Tuesday. The Clippers trailed by as many as 34 points, surrendering 51.5-percent shooting from the floor to the Grizzlies.
When Memphis missed, the Clippers gave up a disproportionate amount of offensive rebounds — 21 in total — that turned into further scoring opportunities.
“Twenty-four points off second-chance points. (Memphis) got 21 points off turnovers. That’s the game,” said Norman Powell, who joined Los Angeles this week in a trade from Portland.
Powell scored 16 points in Tuesday’s loss and went 1 of 4 from the field in the second half. The Clippers traded Eric Bledsoe, Keon Johnson, Justise Winslow and a second-round 2025 pick for Robert Covington and Powell, who played collegiately in Los Angeles at UCLA.
While the Clippers have a new-look roster from their last encounter with Dallas, the Mavericks have turned things around with one of the NBA’s best records over recent weeks.
Since falling two games below .500 in a loss to Sacramento on Dec. 29, Dallas is 16-5 and a winner of three consecutive games.
The Mavericks blasted the Detroit Pistons 116-86 on Tuesday, marking the third consecutive game in which Dallas held its opponents to fewer than 100 points. The Mavericks rank third in points allowed through games played Tuesday (103.1).
Dallas’ current winning streak comes on the heels of its first back-to-back losses since Dec. 23-25. The Mavericks dropped decisions Jan. 30 and Feb. 2 to the struggling Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Jalen Brunson said after his 21-point effort against Detroit that those losses refocused Dallas.
“You’ve got to respect these guys no matter what,” Brunson said. “They’re NBA players coached by NBA coaches. You’ve got to go out there and just play our style of basketball for 48 minutes and play as hard as we got.”
Luka Doncic finished with 33 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in the blowout Tuesday. It was his fifth game in the last six scoring at least 30 points. Brunson has scored at least 20 in three of the last four games.
–Field Level Media
