Thursday, October 13, 2005
Last night, the Los Angeles Clippers played the Dallas Mavericks in an intense, preseason game.
Starting Lineups:
Dallas Mavericks:




PG - Devin Harris
SG - Jason Terry
SF - Josh Howard
PF - Dirk Nowitzki
C - Erick Dampier
Bench: Stackhouse/Van Horn/Armstrong/Daniels/Diop/Podkolzin/Mbenga
Los Angeles Clippers:




PG - Shaun Livingston
SG - Cuttino Mobley
SF - Corey Maggette
PF - Elton Brand
C - Chris Kaman
Bench: Cassell/Radmanovic/McCarty/Rebraca/Ross
Recap:
1st Quarter:
Both the Mavericks and Clippers had trouble shooting in the 1st quarter, with Dallas going 11/28 (.393) and the Clippers going 12/27 (.444), and the game remained close until the Mavericks went on a 9-2 run at the end of the 1st to take a 33-26 lead to end the 1st. With both teams trying to reinforce their power forward positions with double teams, Brand scored 12 and Nowitzki scored 9 points anyway. As the Clippers relied deeply on their frontcourt in the paint, the Mavericks turned to their backcourt, shooting half their shots behind the arc and a few more at the perimeter with the help of their invigorated bench.
1st Quarter Stats:
FG%: Mavericks 11/28 (.393), Clippers (.444)
3pt%: Mavericks 3/14 (.214), Clippers 0/0 (-)
FT%: Mavericks 8/9 (.889), Clippers 2/4 (.500)
Overall Leading Scorers: Elton Brand 12, Dirk Nowitzki 9, Chris Kaman 8, Jason Terry 6, Darrell Armstrong 6
2nd Quarter:
The Clippers worked quickly to recover, trimming the Dallas lead to 37-36 by 8:42 left in the 2nd quarter with the help of additional perimeter shooting and the fact that the Mavericks were playing their bench. After this run, the Clippers too switched to their bench, now led by Sam Cassell. Sensing an advantage, the Mavericks put Nowitzki and Terry back into the game within the next minute, and made a run to get them a 51-45 lead by 3:54. The Clippers' starting lineup, minus Livingston, returned to the lineup and cut the lead to 53-51, but with a minute to go, Dallas remained on top 57-53 thanks to strong inside offenses for both teams. Livingston rejoined the game, but they were unable to tie up the game. The score at the half left the Mavericks on top, 59 to 55. By this point, Chris Kaman already had 11 rebounds, while Dirk Nowitzki already had 10 for a double-double.
Halftime Stats:
FG%: Mavericks 12/25 (.480), Clippers 13/28 (.464)
3pt%: Mavericks 2/7 (.286), Clippers 0/0 (-)
FT%: Mavericks 0/0 (-), Clippers 3/5 (.600)
Overall Leading Scorers: Elton Brand 20, Dirk Nowitzki 14, Jason Terry 12, Cuttino Mobley 8, Chris Kaman 8, Keith Van Horn 6, Darrell Armstrong 6
3rd Quarter:
The Clippers went into the 3rd quarter prepared to play more zone defense to shut down the attack at the rim, but it failed. After briefly tying the game at 69-69, the Mavericks went on a 9-0 run to take the lead at 78-69 with 5:50 left in the quarter. Switching in the bench, the Clippers continued to fail to stop the Mavericks, falling into a hole of 86-69 with 4 minutes to play in the quarter. The run went to 21-0 at one point, as the Mavericks effectively took a 90-69 lead. However, the Clippers regrouped, switch to half-court man-to-man defense, and came back within 12 points at one point in the 3rd. Both teams continued to resort to scoring inside, though the Mavericks hit many shots from the perimeter as well. The score at the end of the 3rd was 98-85 in favor of the Mavericks.
3rd Quarter Stats:
FG%: Mavericks 17/28 (.607), Clippers 14/26 (.538)
3pt%: Mavericks 3/7 (.429), Clippers 0/2 (.000)
FT%: Mavericks 2/2 (1.000), Clippers 2/4 (.500)
Overall Leading Scorers: Elton Brand 34, Dirk Nowitzki 20, Jason Terry 19, Devin Harris 16, Chris Kaman 14
4th Quarter:
The Clippers tore up the Mavericks early in the quarter, sparking a 10-2 run with the help of aggressive defense as well as layups and dunks on the other end to cut the lead to 100-95 within 2 1/2 minutes. The Mavericks responded with their own 13-6 run for the remainder of the first half of the quarter to take a 113-101, but the Clippers were forced to dig into their bench as fatigue became a problem. Even so, the energized bench was prepared, and cut the lead to 118-109 before the 3:22 mark, when the Clippers returned their complete starting lineup to the game. The starters continued the bench's fast breaking and looking for something to prove, played some of the best defense of the game, fed off of Livingston and Mobley's steals, as well as the frontcourt's key blocked shots. Added with strong finishes in the paint, the Clippers took a 123-122 lead with 47.0 seconds to go. Terry and Mobley then missed key shots down the stretch, but Nowitzki, coming out of a Mavericks timeout, made a key jumper with 15.3 seconds to play to give the Mavericks a 124-123 lead. Livingston, opting not to go for a timeout, sent Brand a thundrous alley-oop in response with 10.9 seconds to play, electrifying the crowd.
After using up another timeout, the Dallas played to their go-to guy, Dirk Nowitzki, and in the key final seconds, made a jumper with 1.3 seconds to go to give the Mavericks a 126-125 lead. The Clippers then used their last timeout to bring the ball to their frontcourt. With the ball getting thrown in, the Mavericks' Harris made a key play to steal the ball and win the game for the Mavericks.
It was a valiant effort for the Clippers, but it needn't be that way. The Clippers, had they not fallen in a 21-point hole, would not have needed to fight their way back in the first place. But still, nonetheless, a great effort against one of the best teams in the league, and the Clippers will be ready for their 2nd home match against the Sacramento Kings on Friday.
4th Quarter Stats:
FG%: Mavericks 12/31 (.387), Clippers 16/26 (.615)
3pt%: Mavericks 1/6 (.167), Clippers 0/0 (N/A)
FT%: Mavericks 3/3 (1.000), Clippers 8/11 (.727)
Entire Game:
FG%: Mavericks 52/112 (.464), Clippers 55/107 (.514)
3pt%: Mavericks 9/34 (.265), Clippers 0/2 (.000)
FT%: Mavericks 13/14 (.929), Clippers 15/24 (.625)
Box Score:
DAL 33 26 39 28 - 126
LAC 26 29 30 40 - 125
Rebounds: Mavericks 41 (13 Off/28 Def), Clippers 47 (14 Off/33 Def)
Assists: Mavericks 47, Clippers 24
Steals: Mavericks 12, Clippers 7
Blocks: Mavericks 7, Clippers 5
Fouls: Mavericks 21, Clippers 12
Turnovers: Mavericks 18, Clippers 35
Game Leaders:
DAL:
Erick Dampier: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 6/8 FG
Dirk Nowitzki: 30 points, 20 rebounds, 13/20 FG (Player of the Game)
Jason Terry: 24 points, 4 assists, 9/24 FG
Devin Harris: 21 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, 8/26 FG
Jerry Stackhouse: 11 points, 4/9 FG
Josh Howard: 6 points, 4 steals, 3/8 FG
LAC:
Elton Brand: 48 points, 12 rebounds, 22/36 FG
Chris Kaman: 18 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks, 8/19 FG
Cuttino Mobley: 18 points, 7/14 FG
Corey Maggette: 14 points, 6/9 FG
Shaun Livingston: 8 points, 10 assists, 3/6 FG
Other News: The Chicago Bulls signed Trainer Lawton Hall to a contract yesterday.
Last edited by
YoyoYoshi on Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:13 am, edited 3 times in total.