Mavericks Narrowly Defeat Clippers in Thriller

The Dallas Mavericks pulled out a nail-biter over the Los Angeles Clippers on the heels of an ugly loss to the Golden State Warriors. Barnes, Curry, and Dirk led the way for Dallas.

The Dallas Mavericks earned a thrilling win Thursday night over the Los Angeles Clippers by a final tally of 97-95. The Mavs fans attending the American Airlines Center were treated to a pulse-pounding thriller against public enemy number one, DeAndre Jordan, and the rest of the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.

The Mavs’ victory over the Clippers comes at a desperate time for the team, who sorely needed a win to stop the bleeding from the last two weeks of play. As the Clippers appear to be completely unraveling, the Mavs turned on their stout defense late in the game to secure a nail biter at home. Harrison Barnes helped seal the win for Dallas with a critical defensive stop against Blake Griffin in the closing moments.

Barnes also helped the Mavs on the offensive end with his typical 21 point performance on 9-18 shooting. His consistent offensive play has perhaps been the most pleasant development of the season so far for a losing team attempting to establish some traction in the rebuild process. Dirk Nowitzki added 14 points while Seth Curry led the way for Dallas with 23 points.

The Mavs had some struggles at moments against star power forward Blake Griffin, but Harrison Barnes’ late game defense was enough to derail the Clippers’ comeback attempt that ended with a missed three pointer by sharpshooter J.J. Redick as time expired. Griffin scored 21 points on the evening as he was able to elevate over the smaller Mavs’ front court players for easy buckets.

Nerlens Noel had himself another solid outing for the Mavs. Noel notched 8 points and 12 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end of the floor. His impressive play in a Mavs uniform continues to excite the Mavs’ front office who may have found their new starting center for years to come, something the mavs have sorely needed since Tyson Chandler‘s departure.

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The Mavs earned a hard fought win over the rival Clippers,  but their playoff hopes are still on life support. They will next face the Toronto Raptors in what is another sorely needed game to keep themselves in the playoff race in the West. The Mavs will take on Toronto Saturday night at 7:30 PM central time.