Mavericks at Clippers
Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley were both solid in their team debuts for the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, giving the team reason to believe it can still contend for a playoff spot after trading away franchise cornerstone Blake Griffin. Harris and Bradley will try to move to 2-0 with their new team when the Clippers host the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
Los Angeles looked like it was going into a rebuild by trading away Griffin for a package that included three players and a pair of draft picks, but Harris scored 24 points in the 113-103 win over the Bulls on Saturday while Bradley turned in eight points and a solid defensive effort. "I felt great," Harris told reporters. "I was obviously happy. I was excited just to get out there with my new teammates. It felt good to just go out and play. Obviously, I'll be a little bit more acclimated coming up." The Mavericks ended a string of five straight losses and a stretch of six games in a row failing to reach 100 points when they topped the Sacramento Kings 106-99 on Saturday. "We're pretty good when we hold opponents under 100 points, and they were well on their way over it," Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki told reporters. "It was a little too easy there at times. ... They had it going, and finally there in the fourth we picked it up a bit and got into them a little more."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FS Southwest (Dallas), FS Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (17-36): Dallas leading scorer Harrison Barnes (18.4 points) went 5-of-17 from the floor as the Mavericks dropped a 102-88 decision at Phoenix to begin the trip but rebounded with a 7-of-14 outing on Saturday. "I couldn't buy a bucket the other night, so it was nice to see some shots go in," Barnes told reporters. "I've just got to be aggressive, shoot the open shot and just keep playing hard." Dallas also benefitted from the return of reserve point guard J.J. Barea, who missed three straight games with an oblique injury but returned in Sacramento and handed out 11 assists in 24 minutes.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (26-25): Bradley is still working his way into shape after battling a groin injury near the end of his tenure in Detroit but started and played 32 minutes on Saturday. "I felt like it was good," Bradley told reporters. "I'm still getting my legs under me. But I feel like it was a good start for us. We're still getting used to each other. But I feel like once we're able to learn how to play off one another, the sky is the limit for this team." Clippers small forward Danilo Gallinari is working his way back after missing over six weeks with a glute tear but matched Harris with 24 points on Saturday and is 14-of-26 from the floor in two games since his return.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nowitzki needs to play seven minutes on Monday to become the sixth player in NBA history to reach 50,000 in his career.
2. Los Angeles C DeAndre Jordan is averaging 18 rebounds over the last three games.
3. Dallas took three of the last five in the series, including a 108-82 home win on Dec. 2.