The Dallas Mavericks (17-37) missed their second victory in a row. At the 101:104 against the Los Angeles Clippers (27-25) Dirk Nowitzki reached another career milestone – but he had to watch his team in a devastating final phase once again beat a seemingly sure win in the barrel.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle had to forego the ankle-injured Harrison Barnes. For him, Yogi Ferrell moved into the Starting Five – the Mavs started with a three-guard lineup, joined by Dirk Nowitzki and Dwight Powell.
Logically, the Clippers had a lot of post-mismatches, which they used for an early lead. On top of that came successful threesomes, the rhythm was immediately there with the hosts. After a 20:11 they experienced a dry spell of over 3 minutes without a point. The Mavs used this for a fixed run and even took the lead. But it didn’t last long, because the clips found too easy ways into the zone. A spectacular Buzzer Beater from Lou Williams from outside finally set at 32:28.
During the second quarter, Dirk Nowitzki reached another milestone in his legendary career: He had been missing 7 minutes before the game to have spent a total of 50,000 NBA minutes in the Association (regular season only). In the All-Time List, he passed Elvin Hayes in 5th place and is now one of six players to have broken the 50k barrier.
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In the meantime, both teams alternated with mini runs without anyone else taking off. Danilo Gallinari on one side and Devin Harris on the other acted as offensive engines. With a 58:55 Clippers lead we went into the halftime cabin. After the change of sides, Wes Matthews found his way into the game better and better and turned the score with 4 quick threesomes in favour of his team (72:66). After a time-out from Doc Rivers, the hosts came back with a 6-0 run, but couldn’t capitalize on it. Among other things, a threesome with board by J. J. J. Barea made sure that it went into the final section with a 82:78 lead from Dallas.
There Sam Dekker equalled the score 9 minutes before the end of downtown, but Dirk answered with his own triple. As a result, the guests extended their lead to 9 points. Especially from the three-line they kept their quota high. But on the other side, Lou Williams had a warm shot and cut back to 4 points with a private run. Danilo Gallinari had a threesome.
Then it got wild: on both sides there was a hail of unnecessary ball losses and misses. 24 seconds to the end, Gallo finally scored two free throws for his team at 102:101. A subsequent Ferrell trio bounced back from the ring, but Salah Mejri fought a bouncing ball against DeAndre Jordan – but the latter more than just a winner: he typed the splitting over the entire field to Avery Bradley, who scored the final standings 0.7 seconds before the end via layup. L.A. ended the game with a 13-0 run.
Gallinari was the man of the evening with 28 points and 5 rebounds, Tobias Harris supported with 19 points. Mavs top scorer was Matthews with 23 points, Nowitzki scored 12 points and 6 assists in 25 minutes, Maxi Kleber with 3 points and 3 rebounds.
Clippers vs. Mavs: This way to the BOXSCORE!
Danilo Gallinari. That evening, the Italian showed what he is capable of doing in a fit condition. He was aggressively a changing mismatch and always responded correctly to his numerous opponents. He scored extremely efficiently from the post office, per cut and from the three-line (9/13 FG, 4/5 3FG).
The crunchtime of the Mavericks. Matthews scored the last basket of the Texans 4’42 “before the end, after which nothing worked. Wild step-back-jumpers, funny floaters, bad passes, offensive fouls or kicks on the line formed a colorful bouquet of amateurish decisions. Dennis Smith, Jr. caused a particularly high number of unforced errors.
Despite initial mismatch problems, coach Carlisle clung to a line-up of three guards for much of the game. The plan: One of them would always have an opponent who is much slower on his feet. He should create a litter for himself or for a Teammate – preferably a threesome. This plan worked for a long time, but the alternatives were lacking in a wild final phase.