After getting destroyed time after time, the Dallas Mavericks might be on their way back up thanks to a 129-99 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, led by Chandler Parsons with his best game in a while and on the defensive end it was Tyson Chandler earning most of the praise.
Parsons scored 22 points as the Mavericks walked all over a Clippers team that has been handling the absence of Blake Griffin rather well. This time, after already beating an excellent point guard in Russell Westbrook both individually and on the scoreboard, Paul had a much more difficult time, finishing with 11 points, 7 assists and 5 steals. He outscored Rondo, but that’s not a very difficult things to do. The Clippers, in this current situation, can’t win games with Paul having such a quiet game.
In a game filled with long runs on both ends, after the Clippers narrowed things down to 65-62 in the third quarter they seemed to stop playing. From that moment onward, the Mavericks outscored them 64-37, including winning the fourth quarter by 17 points. Besides Parsons with his 22, six more players scored in double figures, making the most of the long garbage time in the end. Charlie Villanueva scored 19 points, J.J. Barea and Devis Harris each had 15; Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Monta Ellis each finished with 14 points.
Just winning in itself is big for the Mavericks, trying to shrug off the Spurs (seventh in the West), leading them by 0.5 games. They’re also trailing the fifth seeded Clippers by 0.5 games. But it’s more than just the win. The Mavericks were beaten by 33 points against the Cavs, 15 against the Warriors and 19 vs the Blazers, while winning against the tanking Lakers in the middle of a rough five days. A big win might be the confidence boost needed for them to make a strong push in the final month of the season, and a home stand with rest between each games is perfect opportunity to pick up some momentum.