It’s not a championship – not yet – but the Mavericks accomplished a new feat on Monday night: Dallas ended the travelling portion of their schedule by sailing to a 117-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to claim the best road record in the NBA with 27 wins and only 14 losses.
The Mavericks headed into this game in control of their own fate as they held onto the second seed in the playoff race. A win would put them one step closer to locking in the second seed, meaning that should they go deep into the playoffs, the conference finals would be the earliest the Mavs would have to cross paths with the Lakers. And the Mavs did everything right on Monday night to secure yet another win, their fourth straight.
The Clippers initially led the Mavs, 4-2, before the Mavs went on a 12-0 run, topped off with an alley-oop pass from Kidd to Roddy Beaubois for a dunk that left Roddy swinging on the rim with the Mavs up 14-4. Two possessions later, Kidd again found Beaubois with another alley-oop pass for an easy layup. At the midpoint of the first quarter, Dallas had nine assists on nine made field goals. From that point on, Dallas never let off the gas pedal as they pushed the ball and scored seemingly at will the remainder of the night.
Beaubois, who saw extended playing time with 18 minutes, was literally everywhere in the opening frame, finishing the first quarter with nine points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Shawn Marion, who had missed several games to a strained oblique, returned with a stellar shooting night as he went 9-of-12 for 21 points. Dirk had 25 points in just 22 minutes and shot a perfect 100% (3-of-3) on three pointers. He also made four more free throws to extend his franchise record streak of consecutive made free throws to 72 and counting. Jason Kidd posted yet another double-double (he leads the team in double-doubles this season) with 12 points and 12 assists.
An off the glass bounce pass to Marion for an easy basket, setup by a Jason Kidd steal, sealed an amazing first half by the Mavericks as they headed to the locker room up, 64-43. And the Mavericks just continued to expand on their lead in the second half, allowing their bench some extended playing time while providing the starters a bit of a respite. Neither Kidd nor Dirk set foot on the court in the fourth quarter as the Mavs opened the final frame up by 30 points, 99-69. Their lead grew as large as 37 at one point. DeShawn Stevenson even got in on the scoring act by nailing a three pointer.
With only one regular season game remaining, the Mavericks cruised to a much needed easy victory and moved one step closer to their goal of securing the #2 spot heading into the playoffs next weekend. Only one more team, the hated San Antonio Spurs, the Mavericks’ arch rivals, stands in their way. Wednesday night’s game is going to be a great one as the Mavs close out their season at home against the Spurs, who they will most likely face again in the opening round of playoff action, essentially making this an eight game series between the two Texas teams.
I can’t wait for Wednesday, as Dad and I will be there, in the rafters, watching every second…
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