DALLAS — After playing eight straight games without their veteran leader, the Dallas Mavericks gladly welcomed 13-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki back into the lineup Wednesday night against the NBA’s best team record-wise.
Hosting the Los Angeles Clippers for an early-season matchup against one of the Western Conference’s powerhouses, the Mavericks looked to end their six-game losing skid in front of their hometown fans. The Mavs also reinserted Nowitzki back into his customary spot as the starting power forward after he worked his way back from a right Achilles strain that had him sidelined since Nov. 4. But not even the return of Nowitzki would be enough to help the Mavs keep pace with the high-octane Clippers for 48 minutes. And after suffering a lopsided 124-104 loss on their home floor, the Mavericks (2-12) fell to a seventh straight defeat.
“Well, they’re a good team,” Nowitzki said with a high level of respect for the Clippers after the loss. “I don’t think they’ve lost on the road yet. We sort of played them even with their starters, and then their bench gave them a hugh lift.”
Continuing to play without starting point guard Deron Williams for a fourth straight game due to a left calf strain, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle sent out a first unit of 26-year-old guard Seth Curry, swingman Wesley Matthews, leading scorer Harrison Barnes, Nowitzki and center Andrew Bogut. The duo of Barnes and Nowitzki then proceeded to get the Mavs off to a fast start, opening the game on a 7-1 run with their early perimeter scoring.
The run surged to 11-3 as Barnes drove into the lane for a reverse to continue the Mavericks’ hot start, forcing a L.A. timeout with 7:54 remaining in the opening quarter. The Clippers (14-2) would quickly charge back with a run of their own, forcing a Dallas timeout after Chris Paul’s three-pointer trimmed L.A.’s deficit to 15-14 with 4:45 in the period. Behind Bogut’s playmaking in the high post, the Mavericks briefly continued to keep the Clippers at bay. Still, after Wesley Johnson gave the Clippers their first lead at 23-22 with a jumper over Nowitzki, the visiting L.A. team took a 32-26 advantage into the second stanza following back-to-back three-pointers by reserve guard Austin Rivers.
Attempting to muster up a comeback behind an assertive Nowitzki early in the second quarter, the Mavericks would instead fall behind by double digits at 39-29 following Marreese Speights’ triple from the top of the key with 9:37 left in the half. The Clippers’ bench continued to contribute from there as sharpshooter Jamal Crawford caught fire from behind the three-point arc. But after trailing by 15, the Mavericks continued to battle as rookie reserve Nicolas Brussino’s trey trimmed the deficit to 48-38 with 6:45 in the half.
Barnes followed suit, swishing a three off of great ball movement to bring the Mavericks within seven. However, Paul and All-Star big man Blake Griffin would immediately settle their team down, pushing L.A.’s advantage up to 23 in the process. And despite 17 points from Barnes in the first half, the Mavs limped into the intermission in a 68-45 hole.
Attempting to stay in the game behind Barnes’ 8 of 13 from the field in the first half, the Mavericks were outshot through two quarters, 61 percent to 44.2 percent. The Clippers also overcame Dallas’ 22-21 rebounding edge, converting the Mavs’ 10 first-half turnovers into 13 points at the other end of the floor.
“I thought at the beginning we had a good pace and a good flow to it,” Carlisle confessed. “We managed to get an eight-point lead, and then we had a bunch of ugly turnovers rear their ugly heads. A really catastrophic ending to the first quarter kind of set the tone to the second quarter, and then we had another bad ending to the second. I think we lost the end of the first quarter 15-4 and the second quarter 9-2. Finishing quarters is a very important part of winning games and staying in games against contending-caliber teams, and we didn’t do it. We’re going to have to do better.”
Starting the second half with a two-handed slam by center DeAndre Jordan and a jumper by Griffin to push their lead to 27, the Clippers continued to keep their foot on the gas as the third quarter got underway. Frustration then began to boil over for the Mavs’ bench, leading to technical foul call on Carlisle at the 9:07 mark of the period.
A flagrant-one foul on Bogut would following during a heated exchange with Paul in the quarter. The sequence briefly ignited the Mavericks, leading to a mini spurt midway through the period. But after trailing by as many as 31, the Mavericks methodically worked the disadvantage down to 93-70 entering the fourth as Nowitzki exited the game after meeting his minute restriction.
With the final outcome no longer in doubt, Carlisle started the fourth quarter utilizing a lineup of Curry, newly-signed guard Jonathan Gibson, Brussino, undrafted rookie Dorian Finney-Smith and third-year big man Dwight Powell. Carlisle then hoped his young contributors could provide a spark, looking to build momentum for the next game with the play of his reserves. And after the young players closed out the game, the Mavericks limped off the court with their first seven-game losing streak since Nowitzki’s rookie season in February of 1999.
Scoring 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting, Barnes led the Mavericks in a losing effort. Matthews added 18 points on 6 of 10 from the field, knocking down all three of his attempts from long range. Second-year standout Justin Anderson pitched in 12 points and Gibson poured in 11 points off the bench. Meanwhile, Nowitzki returned to score 10 points on just 3-of-10 shooting, pulling down six rebounds in 20 minutes.
“It was good to be out there again. Conditioning is lacking a little bit right now and I’m a little tired out there. But my body felt fine, and that’s all that matters,” Nowitzki said of his return.
Rivers led seven Clippers in double figures with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6 of 7 from three. The Clippers also outshot the Mavs for the game, 50.6 percent to 45.2 percent, overcoming a 44-43 rebounding disadvantage by finishing with a 65-43 edge in bench scoring and converting Dallas’ 16 turnovers into 25 points.
“They spread the floor with four shooters. And Speights is a shooter, so they had five shooters out there,” Nowitzki concluded. “We made some turnovers that were costly, and they made some threes. They were hitting on all sorts of things with Jamal and Rivers hit back-to-back threes, so you’ve got to give them their credit. They’re playing well, and they’re all playing at a high level. Even their bench.”
Note: The Mavericks will now travel to Cleveland for a matchup Friday night against the reigning NBA champion Cavaliers. The game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest and 103.3 FM ESPN. It will also air in Spanish on KFLC AM 1270.
The Mavs return to American Airlines Center on Sunday, hosting the New Orleans Pelicans. That game will tip off at 6 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest and 103.3 FM ESPN. It will also air in Spanish on KFLC AM 1270. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting Mavs.com, or by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
Injury updates:
Deron Williams (left calf strain) — out
Devin Harris (right great toe sprain) — out
J.J. Barea (left calf strain) — out