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Mavs Rally To Overtake Clippers

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

(Sports Network) - Jose Barea's three-pointer with 50.2 seconds to play led the Dallas Mavericks to a comeback 100-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to open up a season-long seven-game homestand.

Dirk Nowitzki had a game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas, which has won seven of eight. Jason Terry contributed 26 points in the victory, while Brandon Bass recorded 14 points. Barea finished with 15 points on the night.

"(The Clippers) were hitting shots all night long. It just feels like you're never going to get a stop. But we put a little wrinkle in there. We went to our zone defense and took them out of their isolations," Terry said. "We started to get stops, we took the momentum and our fans went crazy. The biggest difference in this game was home-court advantage. Our fans helped us to this win tonight."

Zach Randolph scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Baron Davis added 22 points for the Clippers, who have lost eight of 10. Al Thornton had 23 points and nine rebounds, while rookie Eric Gordon had 13 points in the loss. Marcus Camby recorded six points and 15 rebounds for Los Angeles.

"A really disappointing loss for us," said Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy. "We played so well throughout the game, but in the fourth quarter we did a terrible job defensively. We settled for quick, long three-point shots, (and) they just weren't good shots. That allowed them to get out into the open court and score easy buckets."

Heading into the fourth down 13, Nowitzki's three with nine minutes to play brought the Mavs to within eight, but Randolph's layup put LA back up 12 a couple minutes later.

Terry made it 96-89 with a three-pointer with four minutes to go, and Nowitzki made a tip shot to get to within five. Terry's two consecutive buckets with under two minutes left made it a 98-97 game in favor of LA, and Barea's three gave Dallas its first lead of the game at 100-98 with 50.2 seconds left.

After both teams misfired, the Clippers called timeout with 9.1 seconds to play. After the Mavs used their remaining foul, Davis hoisted a 25-foot three- point attempt that was off the mark, handing the game to Dallas.

The Clippers jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the early stages of the game, and they took a 27-21 edge into the second quarter behind 10 points from Randolph.

Randolph added seven more points in the second quarter, and Los Angeles held a 55-47 lead at halftime.

The Clippers used a 10-3 run in the middle of the third quarter to take a 72-58 lead. Gordon, LA's first-round pick this past draft, scored 10 in the quarter to help the team to a 81-68 lead after the third.

Game Notes

Dallas will also take on Phoenix, Atlanta, San Antonio, Charlotte, Oklahoma City and Denver in the homestand...Mavs forward Josh Howard did not play after being listed as questionable with a sore left ankle...The season series is tied, 1-1...Dallas has won 10 of the last 13 meetings...Davis finished with six assists...The Mavs finished the game on an 18-4 run.

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