ESPN

The Mavericks aren’t in the playoffs for the first time since 2000, so we have to find something to fill the time this spring. Might as well keep up with the players from the Mavs’ title team who are scattered throughout the postseason. We’ll have daily updates as long as Mavs championship alums are still alive in the playoffs.

Caron Butler: On a night that Chris Paul desperately needed a scoring sidekick in the starting lineup, Butler had five points on 2-of-5 shooting in 19 minutes. He had two rebounds, no assists and a turnover. His plus-minus (minus-14) was the Clippers' worst in a home loss to the Grizzlies that gave Memphis a 3-2 series lead.

Corey Brewer: The Nuggets stayed alive with a win over the Warriors despite Brewer's off night. He was 1-of-11 from the floor (0-of-5 from 3-point range) during his four-point performance. He did come up with three steals, helping Denver force 17 turnovers.

The Mavericks aren’t in the playoffs for the first time since 2000, so we have to find something to fill the time this spring. Might as well keep up with the players from the Mavs’ title team who are scattered throughout the postseason. We’ll have daily updates as long as Mavs championship alums are still alive in the playoffs.

Caron Butler: Butler was a role player during the Clippers’ thrilling win over the Grizzlies. He scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed one rebound in 21 minutes. He watched from the bench as Chris Paul carried the Clippers during crunch time.

The Mavericks aren’t in the playoffs for the first time since 2000, so we have to find something to fill the time this spring. Might as well keep up with the players from the Mavs’ title team who are scattered throughout the postseason. We’ll have daily updates as long as Mavs championship alums are still alive in the playoffs.

Jason Kidd: This was classic late-career Kidd. He didn’t post a spectacular line (eight points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals in 35 minutes), but he was a significant force during closing time in the Knicks’ win over Boston.

All three of his steals came in the final five minutes. On the first steal, the 40-year-old Kidd deflected a pass and outhustled 26-year-old Jeff Green by diving for a loose ball to spark a fast break. With 2:20 remaining and New York up five, Kidd diagnosed a play that’s a Celtics staple and helped from the weak side to strip Green under the basket. Kidd’s strip of Kevin Garnett on a mismatched post-up in the final minute essentially sealed the win.

“He beats everyone with his brain,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said at his postgame press conference. “If you think quicker than a guy can move, you’re still quicker. That’s why he’s there first, because he thought what the guy was going to do before he did it. He’s just a valuable player to have on a basketball team.”

Tyson Chandler: The fiery big man was a nonfactor in Game 1 against the Celtics after missing 16 of the Knicks’ final 20 regular-season games due to a neck injury. He had five rebounds and one steal in 20 scoreless minutes, and the Knicks opted to play Kenyon Martin at center instead of Chandler in crunch time.

"I knew I would be rusty. I knew I would be a little winded. I knew at some point my legs would get the best of me," Chandler said, according to ESPNNewYork.com. "I just wanted to be out there with my team."

Chandler said his neck didn’t bother him. He acknowledged that conditioning was a factor.

“I should obviously be much better in Game 2,” he said.

Jason Terry: For the first time in his career, Terry failed to score a point in a playoff game.

JET was 0-of-5 from the floor in 20 minutes. His only contributions to the Celtics were three rebounds and one steal. Meanwhile, Boston’s bench was outscored by a 33-4 margin.

"You don't get too high or down too low," Terry said, according to ESPNBoston.com. "It's a long series. If I bet on myself, I know how this is going to end up. I'm going to keep grinding, do the things necessary to win."

Corey Brewer: Brewer scored 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 21 minutes during Denver’s Game 1 win over the Warriors. He didn’t have any rebounds, assists, steals or blocks.

Caron Butler: Butler, who was sidelined by a serious knee injury during the Mavs’ title run, had a terrific Game 1 to help the Clippers blow out the Grizzlies. Butler scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and had a block and a steal in 24 minutes.

DALLAS – Mark Cuban was a rowdy, loud and proud man Tuesday night, when he watched the Mavs’ OT thriller on television in the Cayman Islands, his family’s annual spring break getaway destination.

The fact that the Mavs managed to pull out the 109-102 win over the Clippers obviously pleased Cuban.

PODCAST
Marc Stein joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the historical perspective of Miami's 27-game win streak, the Mavericks' playoff push, the job Rick Carlisle has done this season and if it's a good idea for the Mavs to shave their .500 beards. Listen

He was also content with the sellout crowd’s rough treatment of Lamar Odom, who was booed relentlessly the second he started to take off his warm-ups, and every time he touched the ball.

“Absolutely,” Cuban said before Thursday’s game against the Pacers, which he’ll watch before flying out in the morning to rejoin his wife and kids. “I was proud of the way everybody received Jet. Proud of the energy the crowd had [Tuesday night]. You could feel it through the TV. We felt it in the Caymans.”

Jason Terry, aka Jet, received the appropriate standing ovation when the Mavs legend recently returned to the American Airlines Center for his first appearance here as a member of the Boston Celtics.

Odom, of course, received the polar opposite sort of welcome, which was appropriate given his disgraceful partial season in Dallas that ended prematurely after Cuban basically kicked him off the team.

Odom told ESPNDallas.com before Tuesday’s game that he felt no guilt about what happened during his tenure with the Mavs, but would apologize if he ever had a conversation with Cuban.

Confused? Well, Odom’s pseudo-intellectual comments didn’t exactly clarify his stance, but they did give Cuban some comedic fodder.

“You might be married to somebody for 40 years and then go to the Caymans,” Cuban said, mocking Odom’s bizarre explanation of why he felt no guilt about his failed Dallas stint. “You might just go the Caymans one time and just move there and live there for 100 years. That’s just a thing a man has to figure out.”

Odom indicated that he felt that Cuban didn’t really have any harsh feelings for him, saying, “I can say, 'F--- that garbage can,' but I love it. And you wouldn't ever know, because every time I come up to you I say, 'F--- that garbage can,' you know what I'm saying?”

Cuban’s laughing response to the garbage can metaphor: “Why do you think they line it with plastic?”

However, Cuban did indicate that he’d be willing to have a conversation with Odom at some point.

“Look, there’s only one person, two maybe that I still hold grudges against and neither are basketball related,” Cuban said. “You guys thought the same thing about [Don Nelson]. Nellie and I get along great. So …”

DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki’s overtime dominance doesn’t happen unless the Mavericks’ most maligned clutch player came through with the game on the line.

PODCAST
Tim MacMahon joins Fitzsimmons and Durrett to discuss his recent conversation with Dez Bryant, the Cowboys' attempt at landing free agents without money and the Mavs' playoff push. Listen

O.J. Mayo had two huge buckets in the final 82 seconds of regulation to give the Mavs a chance to pull off Tuesday night’s thrilling upset over the Clippers.

Yes, the same Mayo whose clutch turnovers have caused Mavs fans to scream countless cusswords over the course of an often frustrating season.

Yes, the same Mayo whose production has plummeted all season long against the West’s best teams.

None of that mattered once Mayo got matched up against the smaller Chris Paul in crunch time. Nor did the fact that Mayo made only three of his first nine shots from the floor.

Mayo’s first big bucket was an and-1 turnaround off a post-up that tied the score with 1:22 remaining. The second was one of the most memorable plays of the Mavs season, with Mayo spinning away from the help defense to beat Paul on the baseline before flipping in a pretty lefty layup to tie it up again with less than a second remaining.

“Guys that are 'players' – and I put players in quotes – they don’t worry about their shooting percentage,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “You’ve got to stay in the now and you’ve got to trust all the years that you’ve practiced and trained. In those situations, O.J. is one of those guys that all he’s thinking about is how to get the ball in the basket. He looks at it as an opportunity.

“Guys that are wired that way, whenever you can get ‘em, you want to get ‘em.”

This isn’t out of character for Mayo. He’s been a prolific clutch scorer all season. According to NBA.com’s advanced stats, Mayo ranks eighth in the league with 109 clutch points (scored in last five minutes with the score within five points). Yet his most memorable crunch-time plays have been turnovers, a league-high three of which came in the final 10 seconds of losses, and missed free throws.

Those failures didn’t instill any fear in Mayo.

“He wants to win and he’s not scared of the moment,” Elton Brand said. “He’s putting himself in situations to tie the game. Some guys shy away from it. He’s put himself in situations all year. Sometimes he succeeded; sometimes he didn’t. That’s the mentality he has to have.”

Mayo’s description of his crunch-time mindset: “Keep being aggressive. Obviously, you’re not going to make every shot. I want to. … Just keep being in that attack mentality and try to win ballgames.”

Mayo played a major role in winning this one.

A few more notes from the Mavs’ most impressive win of the season:

1. BOOOOOO!!!!: Mavs fans made their feelings for Lamar Odom loud and clear, booing as soon as he took off his warmups to check into the game and again every single time he touched the ball.

Odom earned that wrath with his inexcusable lack of effort during his 50-game stint with the Mavs last season, which ended after Mark Cuban finally got sick of it and essentially kicked him off the team, albeit with pay.

Of course, Odom shrugged it off after his six-point, six-rebound, 19-minute outing in the Clippers’ loss.

“I’ve played in really hostile environments all my life,” Odom said. “It’s sports. You got to expect that. That’s what we love about sports.

“I’ve played in the championship round before, you know what I’m saying? In Boston. That’s what happens. That’s what we really love in the game. That’s the way it’s going to be in the playoffs for everybody.”

2. Big D in Dirk: It’s natural to focus on the fact that Nowitzki scored a season high 33 points on 12-of-21 shooting. Especially since he shouldered the offensive load in overtime, singlehandedly outscoring the Clippers while accounting for the Mavs’ first eight points of the extra period.

Just don’t overlook Dirk’s contribution on defense.

“If you remember, he was the one out there trapping Chris Paul to get it out of his hands,” Brand said. “He’s out there running, trapping, rotating and then coming down and scoring. It was great, great leadership by Dirk.”

3. Brand banging: Elton Brand joked that he feels like a leper because the Mavs coaching staff is so fixated on making sure he gets rest. They won’t even let him do much during shootarounds.

Brand needs all the energy he can muster to bang with guys like Blake Griffin.

Brand more than held his own against the young, explosive All-Star power forward. He held Griffin, who scored only 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting, in check.

“It’s a team effort any time you try to stop a scorer like that,” said Brand, who had eight points, five rebounds and four blocks in 25 minutes.

That’s a swell thing for Brand to say, but the stats don’t lie. Griffin had 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting in the 21 minutes he was on the floor and Brand was watching from the bench. In the 15 minutes they were matched up, which included the majority of OT, Griffin scored only three points on 1-of-6 shooting.

DALLAS -- Any discussion about the Dallas Mavericks as a playoff team is premature.

At least it is if it’s in the presence of the men who just want to keep their heads down and continue digging their way out of the massive hole they created in the first half of the season.

PODCAST
Tim MacMahon joins Fitzsimmons and Durrett to discuss his recent conversation with Dez Bryant, the Cowboys' attempt at landing free agents without money and the Mavs' playoff push. Listen

The Mavs got a huge shovel full of dirt with Tuesday’s come-from-behind, 109-102 overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers. That makes nine wins in the last 12 games for Dallas, and this one over a legitimate contender was the kind that might make you believe that the Mavs really can make the playoffs for the 13th consecutive year.

How ridiculous would that thought have seemed the last time the Mavs faced the Clippers? That was Jan. 9, when a loss in the Staples Center dropped Dallas to 13-23, a dozen-year low of 10 games under .500.

Fast forward to the present: There’s still much work to do, but the playoffs are a distinct possibility for the bushy-bearded Mavs, who at 35-36 are one win away from shaving and one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the West’s last playoff spot.

The Mavs aren’t about to puff out their chests and pump up their playoff hopes. They just want to keep on rolling and see where they stand at the end of the regular season.

“We started so far behind the 8 ball that we need a heck of a finish here,” Dirk Nowitzki said after dropping a season-high 33 points on the Clippers, who he single-handedly outscored by an 8-5 margin in overtime. “But we’ve been playing well. We’ve been playing our best basketball of the season, so it’s a good time for that.

“We’re just going to let it rip and try to win the next game and not get carried away and look ahead and not get happy with the wins. Keep grinding and see if we can make a serious push down the stretch.”

This was a win worth smiling about for at least a few minutes.

It was just the second time all season the Mavs managed to beat one of the West’s top five teams. It was only their second overtime win in 10 tries. It was tangible reason to believe that the Mavs’ recent success wasn’t just fool’s gold.

The Mavs overcame an amazing performance by Chris Paul, who scored 10 of his 33 points in the final 4:13 of regulation, including what could have been the game-winning bucket with 5.9 seconds remaining. But O.J. Mayo answered with an amazing drive and lefty finish of his own with less than a tick on the clock, forcing the game into overtime.

At that point, a Dallas team that has crumbled in the clutch so many times this season played with poise and toughness reminiscent of the title run made two years ago by an almost totally different roster.

Oh, Dirk was the good, ol’ Dirk, getting two buckets off post-ups early in the OT to give the Mavs a lead that they never let go. It was Dallas’ defense, though, that made the difference.

They trapped Paul as often as possible, forcing the ball out of his hands and keeping him scoreless after a jumper on the Clippers’ first possession of the extra period. L.A. missed seven straight shots at one point against the scrambling Dallas D.

As coach Rick Carlisle said, this win represented the way the Mavs need to play if they want to be playing in late April. And the Mavs have got to keep this kind of effort coming, especially with their next four games against playoff-bound foes.

“I’m not big on signature wins with 11 to go in the season,” Carlisle said. “This is one of many more wins we’ve got to get. This game was about grit and guts more so than X’s and O’s. As Chuck Daly once said, in games like this, wipe everything off the board. It’s all about attitude. This is one of those games, and our guys hung in.”

The Mavs hung in while Nowitzki missed the first 27 games while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. They hung in after things got worse once their lone star returned and struggled, a testament to the professionalism, pride and persistence of a team loaded with dudes whose Dallas stints could be one-and-done.

The odds are still against the Mavs -- although they’ve improved massively this month -- but you can guarantee that they won’t go down easily.

“We’re fighters,” Mayo said. “We’re going to keep coming. We’re going to keep coming until I guess they say the fat lady sings. We’re going to keep coming, keep trying to get better, keep trying to win ballgames and give ourselves a shot.”

Added Nowitzki: “It’s a good time to play your best basketball, so we’ll see how far we can take it.”

They’ve come far enough to get the razors ready and have legitimate hope that removing the beards won’t be the high point of the season. They’ve still got a long way to go to feel any sense of satisfaction.

How it happened: Dirk Nowitzki proved he can still slam the door on a contender.

Nowitzki dominated the overtime period to carry the Mavs to a much-needed upset over the Los Angeles Clippers in a wild game that featured a Western Conference playoff-intensity feel.

Nowitzki scored eight of his season-high 33 points in the extra period. His 16-footer with 3:28 remaining gave the Mavs a lead that they never relinquished.

The Mavs had to overcome a phenomenal clutch flurry by perennial All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who scored the Clippers’ last 10 points in regulation. That offensive outburst by Paul, who matched Nowitzki with a game-high 33 points, lasted 4:13 and ended with a go-ahead floater in traffic with 5.3 seconds remaining.

But O.J. Mayo answered by driving past Paul on the baseline and hitting a crafty left-handed layup to tie it up with 0.6 ticks on the clock. The game went into overtime after Blake Griffin’s bucket off a full-court, inbound pass from Matt Barnes was wiped out due to Griffin pushing Nowitzki before catching the ball.

Paul drilled a midrange jumper on the Clippers’ first overtime possession, but that was Los Angeles’ last bucket of the game until 6.7 seconds remained. The Clippers’ lone points in the final 4:17 came on a DeAndre Jordan free throw and a Griffin jumper in the final seconds. The Clippers missed seven straight shots from the floor, none of which were attempted by Paul.

Barnes air-balled a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 22.9 seconds remaining.

Nowitzki scored the Mavs’ first eight overtime points, going 3-of-3 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line before Darren Collison sealed the win with four free throws.

What it means: The Mavs (35-36) are a win away from shaving those .500 beards, and, more importantly, only one game behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Lakers in the West standings. The Mavs have won nine of the past 12 games to breathe life into their playoff hopes. They’re now 2-13 against the top five teams in the West this season.

Play of the game: Nowitzki’s overtime heroics wouldn’t have been possible without Mayo’s game-tying drive in the final seconds of regulation. Mayo spun past Paul on the baseline, dribbling with his right hand, took off with his right foot, twisted his body to get a good angle and dropped in a lefty layup off the glass.

Stat of the night: With his second bucket of the night, Nowitzki moved past Patrick Ewing into 17th place on the all-time scoring list. Nowitzki has 24,845 points and counting.

DALLAS – There’s no nice way to put it: The Mavericks have been miserable against the West’s best.

PODCAST
DeAndre Jordan of the L.A. Clippers joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about the Mavericks, why Dirk Nowitzki was one of his favorite players growing up and how he enjoyed the success of his Texas A&M Aggies on the football field. Listen

Dallas has lost 13 of 14 games against the conference’s top five teams, including 0-11 against the top four seeds. Six of those losses came by double figures, five by 20-plus points.

That’s a trend the Mavs have an opportunity to end with the 48-22 Los Angeles Clippers in town tonight.

“It’s time,” Shawn Marion said. “We’ve been right there scratching at the door of a lot of these best teams in the Western Conference. It’s time. We’re starting to get our continuity a little better and our defensive principles down. Gotta make it happen.”

Marion makes a legitimate point. The Mavs’ two meetings with elite West teams this month could have gone either way. Vince Carter’s 3-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out in a 92-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The score was tied with a minute remaining in a 107-101 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But close doesn’t count for a team fighting to get into the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. For the Mavs to beat the odds and punch their postseason ticket, they must have some success against the West’s best, considering the 12 games left on the schedule include tonight’s meeting with the Clippers, home and road games against the Denver Nuggets and a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

“We can be playing a college team – we need the win,” Carter said. “I think records really at this point go out the window because whether they’re the best team or the worst team, we have to win. We have to find a way.

“We have, what, 12 games? It’s a small window. The games are so important. It can’t matter what it says on the opponent’s jersey.”

The Mavs have kept their playoff hopes alive by going 21-13 since being a dozen-year-low of 10 games under .500. That’s the fifth-best record in the West during that span. After eight wins in 11 games, the Mavs find themselves only a game and a half behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Lakers, losers of three in a row.

Coach Rick Carlisle acknowledges the Mavs’ lack of success against the West’s best, but it doesn’t do him any good to think about what’s already happened. He’d rather discuss the two days of meticulous preparation for the Clippers, focusing on details such as ball security and boxing out against their freakishly athletic foe.

“Right now, we need to win one game,” Carlisle said, “and that’s tonight. “

DALLAS – Lamar Odom, whose one-year stint with the Mavericks was one of the biggest disgraces in Dallas sports history, returns to the scene of the crime Tuesday night.

PODCAST
DeAndre Jordan of the L.A. Clippers joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about the Mavericks, why Dirk Nowitzki was one of his favorite players growing up and how he enjoyed the success of his Texas A&M Aggies on the football field. Listen

The court of public opinion has found Odom guilty of first-degree basketball fraud for his antics last season, when his out-of-shape body went through the motions with the Mavericks while he left his heart and mind in Los Angeles.

Khloe’s little Lam Lam was acquitted on one count of attempted murder on the Mavs’ soul. After all, Odom can’t be reasonably accused of trying during his four months of failure in Dallas.

“It was like going to war with wet gunpowder,” Donnie Nelson said after the Mavs parted ways with the veteran in April, summing up the Lamar Odom saga in Dallas.

Alas, the punishment for Odom’s hoops felony is pretty light. Other than a permanently stained reputation for the former reality show star, all Odom has to deal with is the wrath of the American Airlines Center crowd during the Los Angeles Clippers’ lone visit this season.

It’s safe to assume that Mark Cuban will join a sellout crowd in giving Odom a cold welcome. Cuban admits to muttering bad things about Odom under his breath during the Mavs’ two road losses to the Clippers earlier this season. The boo-every-time-he-touches-the-ball treatment would be appropriate.

You can’t blame Cuban for still being furious about Odom’s fraud. Forget what seemed like a steal of a deal backfiring in the Mavs front office’s face. Odom made Cuban look like a fool for having his back over and over again to the point of being perceived as an enabler, especially during Odom’s bizarre post-All-Star-break sabbatical, when the owner met with Odom at the W Hotel to talk him into rejoining the team while the rest of the Mavs were in the midst of the lockout-compressed season’s most grueling stretch of games.

Cuban finally had his fill of Odom’s bull by April 7, well after home fans had started booing him. After seeing Odom loaf through four first-half minutes in Memphis that night, Cuban angrily confronted him in the locker room, repeatedly asking if he was “in or out.” Odom’s response of “stop playing games” didn’t satisfy the owner, who decided to send Odom home for the rest of the season, paying him to just go away.

Oh, and the Mavs aren’t done paying for the Odom ordeal.

Dallas still has to give up a first-round pick to complete the Odom trade. It’s now the property of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who acquired it in the James Harden deal from the Houston Rockets, who acquired it from the Lakers along with Derek Fisher (how fitting) for Jordan Hill.

The pick is top-20 protected through 2017, so the worst-case scenario is that the OKC gets a lottery gift from its Interstate 35 rival in 2018, just before Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook turn 30.

Maybe the Odom deal, which was made possible by the trade exception created in the sign-and-trade that sent Tyson Chandler to the New York Knicks, was the basketball gods’ way of punishing Cuban for breaking up a team coming off an NBA title.

The basketball gods certainly didn’t enact any vengeance on Odom. He landed back in Los Angeles with the contending Clippers, making the full $8.2 million salary in the final season of his contract to serve as a role player on arguably the NBA’s best bench. (The fact that Dallas was able to trade Odom for essentially nothing instead of having to pay his $2.4 million buyout was considered a minor win for the Mavs.)

Odom hasn’t exactly regained his Sixth Man of the Year from 2010-11. In fact, he’s averaging a career-low 4.1 points per game while shooting an unsightly 38.8 percent from the floor, numbers that are a continuation of his drastic offensive decline last season. However, Odom has been a contributor for the Clippers since getting in reasonably decent shape, averaging 5.8 rebounds in 20.4 minutes and playing good defense.

“He’s in a situation that’s really perfect for him,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, taking the diplomatic route. “He’s a defender, rebounder and can play off of other people. He’s having a really good year for them.”

Mavs fans have every right to interrupt that “really good year” by making Odom miserable for one night.

It seems like the Mavericks hit a new dozen-year low on a daily basis.

It happened again Wednesday night despite a spirited fight against the team with the NBA’s best record. The Mavs’ 99-93 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers dropped the Mavs to 10 games below .500 for the first time since March 30, 2000, the last season the franchise failed to make the playoffs.

The Mavs are 13-23 after losing 10 of their last 11 games and 13 of their last 15. They head to Sacramento for the butt end of a back-to-back staring up at the lowly Kings in the West standings.

It’d take an absolute miracle for the Mavs 12-year playoff streak to be extended. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no West team has qualified for the playoffs after being 10 games below .500 at any point of the season in at least 15 years.

“We’re going to keep digging,” point guard Darren Collison told reporters after leading the Mavs with 22 points. “It’s early on in the season. We’re going to keep a positive mindset. I tell you one thing: Once we get this rolling, we turn this thing over, I don’t think there’s no looking back for us.”

It’s early in the season, but it looks like it’s too late for the Mavs.

A few more quick notes from the Mavs’ loss in L.A.:

1. Fourth-quarter failure: The Mavs managed to build a double-digit lead in the third quarter and it lasted all of 3:15. The Clippers closed the third strong and outscored the Mavs 27-18 in the final frame to claim the win.

That’s the continuation of a troubling trend for the Mavs, who have been miserable closing games. It’s been especially painful lately, with the Mavs leading entering the fourth quarter in the last three games and losing each time.

“It just seems like the same story I keep telling you guys over and over,” said Collison, who didn’t score any of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. “We’re right there, making the same mistakes. We’re all hurting, too. We’re feeling the same pain after every game.”

The most painful moments down the stretch in this loss were a couple of offensive rebounds by ex-Mav Caron Butler on one late possession. The Clippers didn’t score, but the extra possessions basically served like a couple of first downs for a football team protecting a two-score lead.

Vince Carter, who was on the floor instead of Mavs’ leading rebounder Shawn Marion, failed to box out Butler.

“Down the stretch, you’ve got to get a rebound,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “You can’t give up two offensive rebounds when you get a good stop.”

2. CP3 special: Sometimes you’ve just got to give the other guy credit. Clippers point guard Chris Paul showed why he’s a leading MVP candidate with a 19-point, 16-assist performance.

Paul took over the game in the fourth quarter, scoring six points and dishing out six assists.

"They've got the best leader to me right now in the league," Nowitzki said. "Chris Paul can turn it up anytime he wants. He can take games over.”

3. Look at Lam Lam: Lamar Odom’s line (four points, two rebounds, three assists, five fouls, one steal) doesn’t look very impressive, but one of the biggest dogs in Dallas sports history continued to help the Clippers.

Odom was a key part of the Clippers’ closing unit, doing a respectable job defending Dirk down the stretch. L.A. was plus-8 in his 27 minutes. L.A. is plus-191 in Odom’s 671 minutes this season despite him being in awful shape for the first month or so.

LOS ANGELES -- Elton Brand leaned against the wall next to his locker, shook his head and smiled.

He wouldn't go as far as to say it's as bad now as it was 13 years ago, when the futile Chicago Bulls finished 17-65 his rookie season. But right now, it's bad for the Dallas Mavericks, who dropped yet another game -- this one by a 99-93 score to the Los Angeles Clippers.

PODCAST
Would you trade Dirk Nowitzki for Dwight Howard? Ben and Skin discuss and debate. Listen

The Mavericks blew a 10-point lead. Down by two possessions, they failed to grab a much-needed rebound twice in the final minute, all but sealing their fate. It was their 13th loss in the last 15 games.

"Words can't even express it right now," said Shawn Marion, standing nearby. "This is painful. To be losing like this, when we were so close, we just find a way to bite ourselves. When we get right there, we do something to mess it up."

The Mavericks had a chance late, getting two stops on perimeter shots, but former Mav Caron Butler pulled down both loose balls. Vince Carter missed a jumper that would have trimmed the deficit to two with less than seven seconds remaining.

Losing a double-digit lead against the team with the best record in the NBA, in a sold-out arena, was not an excuse, even for a reeling squad that continues to search for answers.

"Our motivation is to get wins, plain and simple," Carter said. "If you can't motivate yourself off of that, you shouldn't be playing."

Four Mavericks starters scored in double figures, led by point guard Darren Collison's game-high 22. O.J. Mayo had 10 points in the second half but needed 10 shots to get there. Dirk Nowitzki had nine in the second half and finished with 15.

"We're right there," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "We just have to keep working to get over the hump."

In the locker room, Brand leaned against the wall and smiled.

"Once we break through," Brand said, "we'll be fine."

How it happened: Despite a strong third-quarter effort, the Dallas Mavericks ran out of steam Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers continuing their downward spiral with a 99-93 loss to the team with the NBA’s best record.

Point guard Darren Collison led the Mavericks with 22 points, but only five of those came in the second half. He made 7 of 11 shots for 17 points to lead all scorers at halftime.

The Mavs took their first lead of the game, 58-57, on Shawn Marion’s 3-pointer early in the third quarter. They led by as many as 10 following Collison’s 3-pointer with just over two minutes left in the third, but the Clippers finished the quarter on a 7-0 run.

The Clippers stormed back and took a brief lead on Chris Paul’s steal and breakaway layup with 9:05 remaining in the fourth, sparking a comeback that had the sellout crowd jumping.

Shooting guard Vince Carter missed a jump shot that would have cut the deficit to two with under seven seconds remaining.

What it means: The Mavericks are 2-13 (.133) dating to Dec. 2, tying the Washington Wizards for the worst record in the NBA over that stretch. It’s the worst span for Dallas since the 1999-2000 season, which also marks the last season in which the Mavericks missed the playoffs. The Clippers have now won their last three games against the Mavs, their longest winning streak against them since 2006.

Play of the game: There weren’t any of those trademark lobs inside Staples Center but Lamar Odom had an impressive dunk over Chris Kaman in the first half, which probably left Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle wondering where that athleticism was last season.

Stat of the night: Matt Barnes tied a season high with five 3-pointers made, helping the Clippers’ bench outscore the Mavericks’ 43-19. He and Paul each had 19 points to lead the Clippers.

LOS ANGELES -- If there's smoke, recent free-agent acquisition Mike James might get thrown into the fire right away, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.

James, the 10-year veteran who was signed to a 10-day contract Tuesday, was active for Wednesday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Carlisle said he wouldn't hesitate to play the 37-year-old, who most recently averaged 18.5 points and four assists in two games with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League.

"He'll be in uniform, so it's possible," Carlisle said. "I had my career-best game when I was signed in the morning from the CBA back in 1987, so wild things do happen."

Carlisle added that the other two point guards, Darren Collison and Rodrigue Beaubois, would get a majority of the minutes, but if an opportunity to help popped up James would get a look.

"One thing I know about him is he's a gamer," Carlisle said. "He's got a lot of enthusiasm for the game and he's got a lot of love for the game."

Point guard play is always important, but especially against the high-octane Clippers, who feature perhaps the best player at the position in Chris Paul. Carlisle said transition defense was the key to containing the much-ballyhooed "Lob City" craze that has taken Staples Center by storm the last two years.

"You've got to get in front of Paul," Carlisle said. "You've got to find the big guys and get a body on them before they can hit the launching pad. It's challenging because these guys have great athleticism and they have a great feel for one another."

The Clippers (27-8) have the best record in the NBA and have won 24 of 25 games in which they post a higher shooting percentage than their opponents.

"A lot of it starts with working to get good shots," Carlisle said. "If you don't do a good job of moving the ball, let them get their hands involved, steal and get out, that's where the big problems are going to be."

Five dribbles of pertinent info, with help from the Elias Sports Bureau, to set you up for Mavericks at Clippers in Wednesday night's late game on ESPN:

*The Mavericks are 2-12 over their last 14 games dating to December 12. Thats the league's second-worst record in that stretch behind Washington's 2-13 mark in the same span.

*The Clippers, at 27-8, sport the league's best overall record. The furthest into a season that the Clippers previously had the league's best record was a mere five games, on three occasions: 1985-86 (5-0), 1991-92 (4-1) and 2006-07 (4-1).

*Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle has trotted out a league-leading 15 different starting lineups this season. The Clippers, by contrast, have used only three, tying them with Golden State for the third-fewest in the league. Oklahoma City has started the same fivesome in every game this season, while Detroit has used just two different starting lineups.

*Ex-Mav Lamar Odom averaged just 13 minutes and 1.6 points in his first 15 games after rejoining the Clippers in the offseason. Odom has since averaged 22.5 minutes and 4.9 points in 20 games since December 1.

*Mavs forward Elton Brand averaged 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his seven seasons with the Clippers from 2001-02 through 2007-08. Only three other players in franchise history have career averages of 20-and-10 or better in their time with the club: Bob McAdoo for the Buffalo Braves (28.2 ppg and 12,7 rpg) Terry Cummings for the San Diego Clippers (23.3 ppg and 10.1 rpg) and Blake Griffin (20.9 ppg and 11.0 rpg).

The Mavs have lost eight out of the last nine games, and the schedule doesn’t exactly get any easier this week.

A quick look at the Mavs’ four foes this week:

Utah Jazz (8 p.m. Monday, Energy Solutions Arena): The Jazz’s big, deep frontcourt presents some frightening matchup problems for the Mavs, who rank last in the NBA in rebounding differential. Utah (17-18) outrebounded the Mavs by a 61-40 margin in the Jazz’s 113-94 rout of Dallas on Halloween. Center Al Jefferson (12 points, 14 rebounds) and power forward Paul Millsap (13 points, 15 rebounds) had double-doubles in that game. As usual, the Jazz are especially tough to beat at home, where they’re 10-4 this season.

Los Angeles Clippers (9:30 Wednesday, Staples Center): Speaking of frightening frontcourt matchups, athletic freaks Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan present a lot of problems for the Mavs. Of course, MVP candidate Chris Paul is the primary reason the 27-8 Clippers lead the NBA in wins. His 14-point, 13-assists, five-steal outing in the Clippers’ Dec. 5 blowout of the Mavs was pretty much a ho-hum outing by CP3’s sky-high standards.

Sacramento Kings (9 p.m. Thursday, Sleep Train Arena): This ought to be entertaining, if only because of Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins. The last time the Mavs and Kings met, the big man known as “Boogie” took a below-the-belt cheap shot at O.J. Mayo – which earned him a one-game suspension – and exchanged heated words with Rick Carlisle during a Dallas win. Mayo went off on Cousins after the game, saying he was immature and had “mental issues.” But Cousins is a player the Mavs’ front office would love to take off the Kings’ hands if Sacramento’s decision makers decide he’s more trouble than he’s worth.

Memphis Grizzlies (8 p.m. Saturday, American Airlines Center): Have we mentioned tough frontcourt matchups yet? Memphis’ trio of Zach Randolph (16.8 ppg, 12.2 rpg), Marc Gasol (13.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.9 bpg) and Rudy Gay (18.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) might be the best frontcourt in the league. The 21-10 Grizzlies, who allow the fewest points per game (89.4) in the NBA, slugged out a 92-82 win over the Mavs on Dec. 21, when O.J. Mayo made only three field goals and committed five turnovers in his first game against his former team.