The Los Angeles Clippers won their NBA home opener on Thursday, downing the Dallas Mavericks 104-88 in a contest spiced by the contentious off-season contract waffling of center DeAndre Jordan.
Jordan reneged on a verbal agreement to join the Mavericks as a free agent, opting instead to remain with the Clippers.
Prior to tip-off, outspoken Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was dismissive of the Clippers, who have long played second fiddle to the Lakers in Los Angeles, but it was the Clippers who were in control for most of the game against a Mavericks team missing Chandler Parsons, JaVale McGee, Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams.
Photo: AFP
Williams suffered a left knee contusion in Wednesday’s 111-95 win over Phoenix, while Matthews, who scored nine points on Wednesday, was left out because Mavericks officials did not want him playing two nights straight on his surgically repaired Achilles tendon.
Blake Griffin scored 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, guard Jamal Crawford added 15 points off the bench and Los Angeles led by as many as 28 points in the sometimes prickly contest.
Jordan and the Mavericks’ German star Dirk Nowitzki had a brief altercation late in the first half after the two made contact under the Clippers basket.
Players from both teams traded barbs before technical fouls were issued to Jordan, Griffin and Mavs guard Raymond Felton.
The Mavericks then instituted a “hack-a-Jordan” strategy, fouling him on each of the Clippers’ next three possessions.
He missed five of six attempts, but Los Angeles still led 51-43 at halftime.
“I thought he handled it well,” Griffin said of Jordan’s response to an emotional night. “He was excited for it — but we should be excited for every game.”
“We just calmed down, trusted our offense, executed and got stops defensively, which led to easy baskets on the offensive end,” said Griffin, who made 11 of 17 shots from the floor in only 27 minutes.
“We played better defense, No. 1,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “No. 2, I thought we walked the ball up the floor for most of the first half. The first unit was much better the second time they came on the floor in the last six minutes of the first half. In the second half, both units played at pace instead of walking up the floor after both makes and misses, which was not who we are.”
“It was a tough matchup, but we kept battling,” Nowitzki said. “We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. That was tough, but I thought we hung in there for the first half.”
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
DEADLINE DAY: Rennes’ Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off the move due to the Blues’ bloated squad Liverpool on Monday won the race to sign Stade Rennais defender Jeremy Jacquet on the quiet final day of the English Premier League transfer window, while Crystal Palace swooped for Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen despite the collapse of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move to AC Milan. The Reds agreed a reported fee of up to ￡60 million (US$82 million) for the highly rated Jacquet. However, the 20-year-old will not join the Premier League champions until the summer despite Liverpool’s need for defensive reinforcements. Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off
RSS