Dallas Puts Problems Aside to Beat Clippers, 117-98

The Big D on this team is disarray , and it has been as much a part of the Mavericks as success once was.

That Mark Aguirre was around for the 117-98 victory over the Clippers Tuesday night in Reunion Arena was good for the Mavericks, if only because he scored a game-high 29 points. Most of Aguirre’s teammates would just as soon a trade that has been expected here for weeks--even guaranteed by owner Donald Carter--be completed.

Straight up for Detroit’s Adrian Dantley? A three-way deal involving Rod Strickland and the New York Knicks, Wayman Tisdale and the Indiana Pacers?

Whatever. Just get it done.

Further clouding the picture is the status of Coach John MacLeod, who some say was feelingpressure from Carter as the Mavericks struggled through a 4-11 January.

“One way or another, we need to clear the air,” guard Rolando Blackman said.

This is the team--minus Roy Tarpley, who is in drug rehabilitation--that pushed the Lakers to a Game 7 in the Western Conference final last season?

This is a team embroiled in controversy.

The Mavericks (25-21), have been disappointed by Aguirre’s work ethic for a while. But they also realize that his good games can carry them back to the top in the Midwest Division.

“This is what he can do all the time,” said center James Donaldson, the former Clipper who had 14 points and 16 rebounds Tuesday night. “There’s no reason he can’t do it. He’s a great post player and a great outside shooter. You almost expect him to get 25 or 30 points, and when he comes to play, he should get it.”

Aguirre has tired of the waiting game, too. Sometimes cordial, sometimes terse, his attitude has become workman-like: Show up, do the job and leave.

“I’m playing in spite of all the trade rumors,” he said. “We’re moving in the right direction. Whether the team can win without me, I don’t know.”

The Mavericks probably could have against the Clippers, but it was nice to have Aguirre around just in case team morale started to increase after winning for the sixth time in eight games.

Aguirre fell only one point short of breaking the 30-point mark for the fourth time in six games. He scored 21 in the first half when Dallas had a 65-55 lead after holding a commanding 59-41 advantage with 3:42 to play in the second quarter.

That was enough to bury the Clippers, who aren’t exactly overflowing with harmony themselves after dropping to 11-38.

Guard Quintin Dailey returned, and even started, in his first game since a Feb. 9 suspension for excessive weight. Though he dropped about 19 pounds from his 229-pound body, he also gained what, in this town at least, can be described as an Aguirre-like attitude.

“I’m not having fun,” said Dailey, who does not have the Aguirre-like problems with teammates. “I’m here for a job. My fun comes off the court when I’m with my family and my friends.

“It (the suspension) hurt. I’m a competitor--no matter what size I am. It made me realize this is my job and that’s all.

“Right now, there’s a nasty taste in my mouth. It’ll disappear . . . hopefully.”

The Clippers say Dailey is hovering between 210 and 215 pounds and will be allowed to work down to the 205 range while playing. That way, they get their leading scorer back, even if he doesn’t feel right about the action or the weight.

“I feel weak,” he said. “I don’t know. I just don’t feel like the old Quintin. But I look good.”

There was more than a touch of sarcasm to the last line.

Coach Don Casey said he is not concerned with the attitude of Dailey, who had 17 points and six rebounds. At least not yet.

“If his attitude interferes with his play, I’ll say something,” Casey said. “But as long as he plays well, that’s fine. It’s over. He needed it (the suspension) and he knows he needed it, and as far as I’m concerned it’s case closed.”

Casey called this the most disappointing effort in his 10 games as coach.

Defensively, the Clippers were poor at best, and the offense wasn’t much better.

“It’s like they were in disarray,” said Donaldson, who should know.

After all, he plays in the Big D.