Disastrous Third Quarter Dooms the Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks kept things competitive for two and a half quarters, but a 19-3 run sparked an easy win for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Dallas Mavericks dropped their third game in a row, losing Monday night to the Los Angeles Clippers, 109-90. And they have a disastrous third quarter to blame.

The Mavs led by two at halftime, 52-50, after a Dirk Nowitzki tip-in right before intermission. But things went sour after that, and quickly, as J.J. Redick continued to rain threes and Chris Paul took over. CP3 outscored Dallas all by himself in the third, hitting eight of his nine attempts in the frame for 18 points. His tough finish in the lane as time expired capped off a 19-3 Clippers run to put Los Angeles up 83-68.

Things didn’t get any better for the Mavericks, as they fell to 33-31 with 18 games left on the schedule.

Dirk Nowitzki led the way offensively with 22 points, but it was another rough night for Chandler Parsons and Wesley Matthews. Parsons started strong, hitting his first two shots, but really struggled the rest of the way and finished 3-12 from the field with three turnovers. Wesley Matthews finished with two points on 0-6 shooting. Tough to win against a top-4 team in the west when your two highest paid players combine to go 3-18.

Player of the Game: DeAndre Jordan

Could go a few different ways here. Chris Paul led the decisive run in the third quarter, and J.J. Redick had 22 points on 9-14 shooting. But DeAndre Jordan earns Player of the Game honors with his 23-point, 20-rebound outing. Jordan was 6-7 from the field, and 11-19 from the free throw line. He added two steals and two blocks, and was a game-high +33 in his 38 minutes.

Stat of the Night

Nowitzki shot 47% from the field, going 9-19. The poor shooting from Parsons and Matthews has already been acknowledged, but the other two starters weren’t much better. All in all the non-Nowitzki starters shot 18%, going 5-27 overall and 2-14 from distance. Consistency remains the issue for just about everyone on the roster outside of Dirk and newcomer David Lee (13 points, 8 rebounds). This can’t be how Nowitzki envisioned this season playing out.

Next: Mavs Need More Justin Anderson

Dallas now turns their attention to the other conference, facing four current playoff teams from the east in a row: Detroit, Indiana, Charlotte, and Cleveland.