Mavericks Put an End to All the Clipper Fun

It was fun while it lasted.

With a chance to produce a five-game winning streak for the first time since November 1995, the Clippers didn’t exactly lay an egg Monday night but they definitely didn’t defend Dallas well enough to keep the good times rolling.

“It wasn’t like we didn’t match up with them,” said Lamar Odom about the Mavericks, who handed the Clippers a 103-92 loss before 13,521 at Staples Center.

“But they just found something and . . . it worked all night.”

In defeating the Clippers for the 10th consecutive time and the third time this season, the Mavericks simply had too many weapons on offense. All-star guard Michael Finley scored 23 points and versatile big man Dirk Nowitzki added 22, joining six Dallas players in double figures as the Mavericks shot 50.7% from the field.

Odom finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who just couldn’t get their open court game going against the Mavericks, one of the league’s most improved teams.

“The days of beating up the Clippers are over,” Dallas Coach Don Nelson said. “They are a much improved team and very fun to watch. I was really worried coming into tonight’s game.”

The Mavericks actually have had a longer playoff drought than the Clippers. The last time Dallas reached the postseason was 1990, but behind owner Mark Cuban the team sees itself as a contender this season.

That’s why Cuban traded for expensive power forward Juwan Howard from Washington last week, to give the Mavericks a low-post threat to go along with their talented perimeter players led by Finley, Nowitzki and Steve Nash.

“You can’t even talk about the past with the Dallas Mavericks because they have a whole different program over there,” Odom said. “Cuban has gone out and made a conscious effort to make his team better. You can see the results.”

From the opening tip, the Clippers didn’t have an answer for the Mavericks’ parade of shooters and that’s even with Coach Alvin Gentry giving Corey Maggette a rare start in an attempt to get more defense in the lineup.

After blowing an 18-point fourth quarter lead and then needing double overtime to defeat Portland on Saturday, the Clippers found themselves in a different position against Dallas. Against the Trail Blazers, the Clippers hurt themselves when they stopped attacking on offense but they had a different problem Monday.

Because Dallas jumped out to an early lead and controlled the tempo for much of the first half, the Clippers battled to turn the flow of the game to their favor. And to do that, they had to make defensive stops, which they found difficult against the Mavericks’ multiple weapons.

“They definitely made a lot of tough shots,” said Clipper rookie Quentin Richardson, who had 13 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. “It didn’t matter who it was. The shot clock would be running down and they would make a shot. Finley made a couple. Juwan made one. Nash made one. Everyone was making shots for them.”

In the third quarter, frustration got the best of the Clippers as they picked up three technical fouls. Odom, Maggette and Gentry were tagged for complaining too much and it didn’t help that the Clippers had five turnovers in the quarter.

“They prevented us from getting out and running with their pick-and-roll,” Richardson said. “That made it difficult for us to get out and run and that’s our strength.”

In the fourth, Nash dominated as he ran the Maverick offense to perfection. Every time it appeared that the Clippers had Dallas in a jam, Nash found an open man and all the Clippers could do was take the ball out of the net after a made basket.

“They are a real quality team and anybody that plays them in the playoffs has to be a little nervous about facing them,” Gentry said. “They can hit you in so many different ways. . . . [Having Howard] gives them another guy who can get 20 points on any night out.”

Howard finished with 15 points and Shawn Bradley didn’t miss a shot, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.