Mavericks AM News: First Statement Win Over Clippers

The Dallas Mavericks prove that last summer’s flake-job by Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is a thing of the past.

The last time Los Angeles Clippers head coach and Doc Rivers and his kids headed to Texas, they left with center DeAndre Jordan, a player who obviously had verbally committed to play for the Dallas Mavericks this season.

In their next trip to Texas, Rivers and company again left with Jordan, but certainly lost a key early season contest against the team they so greatly disrespected last summer.

Wednesday night’s match up between the Clippers and Mavericks was a thing of poetic beauty for Mavericks Nation. A story that’s grown as old as dirt itself has hopefully been put to rest moving forward following a dramatic, if not convincing, 118-108 victory at American Airlines Center.

A crowd of just over 19,800 showed up to see exactly what they were hoping for, as echoed by Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw:

"Mavericks fans don’t ask for much these days. Not many folks are thinking about a second championship banner right now. All they wanted was one night to pretend or perhaps to believe that DeAndre Jordan made a huge mistake when he broke his promise to sign with Dallas and stayed with the Clippers last summer.Wow. Who knew they would get it?"

Yes, they got it indeed.

Forward Dirk Nowitzki, who proved that he remains the face of this franchise, opened the game with a gorgeous three-point shot from beyond the arc and was off and running to a season-high 31 points. The big German opened the second half with another long ball for three and ended up playing 33:19  while shooting 11-14 from the floor – he added 11 rebounds on the night.

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In terms of last summer’s big free agent signings, Wesley Matthews ended up being Dallas’ prized catch after Jordan changed his mind. On Wednesday he played, by far, his best game with Dallas as the former Portland Trailblazers guard scored 25 points against a Clippers back court that was over matched all night long. Matthews was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line and was 3-4 from beyond the arc.

Neither Matthews or point guard Deron Williams played in the first meeting between these two teams exactly two weeks ago in Los Angeles.

That obviously wasn’t the case at AAC.

In addition to Matthews’ big night, Williams was also a force as he scored 13 points on 5-11 shooting, had an effective 6 assists with 3 steals in a game that, at times, wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

Even rookie Justin Anderson got 10-plus minutes of work and added 7 points on 3-3 shooting from the floor and also added a blocked shot and a steal.

How did Jordan do?

Well, he was his typical 3-9 from the charity stripe and did help his team with 11 rebounds – he did land a couple of nice dunks off of lobs under the rim, but that was about it. His 9 points are probably below what one might expect from a ‘face-of-the-franchise’ player sporting a max contract.

Clippers point guard Chris Paul contributed a scattered 11 points and also added 11 assists.

Interestingly, Dallas played without starting small forward Chandler Parsons.

At 4-4, the Mavericks look ahead to Friday night’s match up with the Los Angeles Lakers (1-7) at AAC. Tip off is set for 7:30pm CST.

Mavericks News From Around The Internet

Carlisle-Nowitzki Duo Carries Mavs Over Clips (Sports Illustrated – Rob Mahoney)

It wasn’t actually DeAndre Jordan who was needed to become the face of the Mavericks franchise. For right now, that title rests with the tandem of head coach Rick Carlisle and Nowitzki. Mahoney breaks down Wednesday night’s unexpected win for the Mavericks in Dallas.

Mavericks vs. Clipper Coverage And Results (SBNation – Mavs Moneyball)

Re-live and take in all aspects of the Mavericks huge win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Next: Cowboys Have More Problems Than Missing Romo

National Reaction To Jordan Return To Dallas (Dallas Morning News – Staff)

Yes, fans and media came prepared to watch arguably the most visible game of this young 2015-16 NBA season. The excitement of this Mavericks victory might only be matched by the creativity displayed by a Mavs fan base that will probably never forget.

• Published on 11/12/2015 at 15:01 PM
• Last updated at 11/12/2015 at 18:34 PM