Mavericks at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers continue their pursuit of the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Los Angeles has won three straight contests and seven of its last nine as it sits one game behind fourth-place Utah with four remaining.
The Clippers are headed toward a first-round playoff matchup with the Jazz, and landing home-court advantage is critically important with both teams having won more than two-thirds of their home games. "Anything could happen, you just never know," Los Angeles point guard Chris Paul told reporters. "I think right now, it's still about us, regardless of who we play. It's about us. I'm more concentrated on how we're playing and not who we're playing." Dallas recently was eliminated from playoff contention and is sinking fast with five defeats in its last six games. Power forward Dirk Nowitzki missed Tuesday's 98-87 loss to Sacramento and the Mavericks hope to have his services against the Clippers.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Southwest (Dallas), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (32-45): Nowitzki's Achilles' tendon flared up during Sunday's victory over Milwaukee, and coach Rick Carlisle is hoping the night off against the Kings will help alleviate the soreness. "He is feeling better," Carlisle told reporters after the loss in Sacramento. "Could be most likely a game-time decision. The signs are good at this point." Nowitzki was hampered by Achilles' pain over the first two months of the season and he seemingly had recovered until feeling sudden pain during the game against the Bucks.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (47-31): Los Angeles hasn't played since Saturday, and one of the off-day discussions involved players pondering what it would take to recapture the performances of their stellar season-opening 14-2 stretch. "At the start of the season, we were better," power forward Blake Griffin told reporters. "I also wouldn't say we're in a terrible place and the sky is falling. It's a work in progress, but we have been better. But we still need to clean some things up." The Clippers play three of their final four games at home as they try to catch Utah, but the road contest is at second-place San Antonio and one of the homes games is against third-place Houston.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks won the last two meetings after dropping 12 of the previous 16.
2. Griffin is averaging 31 points on 34-of-50 shooting over the past three contests.
3. Dallas G Seth Curry (shoulder) likely will miss his third straight game.