Clippers at Mavericks
The Los Angeles Clippers will finally reach the end of a difficult eight-game road trip when they visit Dallas on Monday. Playing without All-Star forward Blake Griffin, who will have surgery Monday for a staph infection in his elbow, the Clippers lost 131-108 at Oklahoma City on Sunday to fall for the fourth straight time. They have allowed 115.5 points during the slide, which is the team's longest since Doc Rivers took over as head coach before last season.
Behind 25 points from Dirk Nowitzki - including a 3-pointer that forced overtime - the Mavericks posted an 111-101 win against Portland on Saturday to pick up their fifth win in the last six games following a four-game slide. While Los Angeles has been porous on defense, Dallas has stepped up its game on that end of the floor, forcing 23 turnovers against the Trail Blazers. Portland was the sixth Dallas opponent in the last seven games to be held below 100 points in regulation.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (33-19): Griffin's injury means that Los Angeles has lost two starters in the midst of this road trip, as shooting guard J.J. Redick has missed three straight games with back spasms. There is a chance Redick returns against the Mavericks, which would likely send Austin Rivers - who started Sunday while Spencer Hawes took the place of Griffin - back to the bench. Jamal Crawford, who also has started in place of Redick on the trip, came off the bench to score 21 points against the Thunder but much of it was in garbage time.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (35-18): Dallas wiped out a double-digit deficit in the closing minutes to knock off Portland, which gave the squad a rare win against a team currently in a playoff spot in the West. "To be the team that we want to be, we need to have wins like this," said forward Chandler Parsons, who scored 10 of his 20 points in overtime. That logic would extend to the Clippers, who won the first matchup at home 120-100 and have also taken the last two meetings in Dallas.
BUZZER BEATER
1. Clippers PG Chris Paul has 31 assists against four turnovers in the last three games.
2. Mavericks C Tyson Chandler is averaging 16 points and 15.3 rebounds in a string of three straight double-doubles.
3. Los Angeles is 9-4 in the second half of back-to-backs, compared to 5-8 in the first half.