The Mavericks leave Southern California with the rarest of sweeps. Never before in the history of the franchise had Dallas won back-to-back games on the road against both the Lakers and the Clippers. And the Mavs did it on consecutive nights, finishing off the perfect weekend with Saturday night's win over the Clippers. Dallas was just 3-13 all-time in L.A.-L.A. matchups, including 1-3 this decade, coming into this trip. So after hitting the road on a low, Dallas returned home with an improbable 2-1 record going into Tuesday's game against Utah. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle credited the team's work on the defensive end. The Lakers and Clippers averaged 82 points.
"We're getting into the habit of playing hard and playing persistently on the defensive end, and we're going to keep working on it," Carlisle said. "The first game was extremely disappointing, but in the big picture, I have great belief in these guys.
"I know how much they want to win, I know how much they love to win, and I know how much they love playing together. We just have to keep working on the mindset. That's the biggest thing."
MAVERICKS 93, CLIPPERS 84: Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and nine rebounds, as Dallas completed its two-night Los Angeles sweep with a Saturday victory over the Clippers.
Shawn Marion and Erick Dampier both had double-doubles for the Mavs. Jason Terry added 16 off the bench, including a 3-pointer that put the visitors ahead for good with 5:07 left.
After pulling even at 82-all, the Clippers had only one field goal over the final seven minutes. The Mavericks improved to 14-6 against the Clippers at Staples Center, and have won 10 of the last 11 overall between the two.
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