Clippers beat the defending Champs Dallas at the Staples Center on January 18, 2012

The LA Clippers took on the defending champion Dallas Mavericks at the Staples Center on January 18th in an exciting wild finish game.  Chauncey Billups picked up on a winning bid after the Knicks let him go through the new amnesty rule to save money, came through as his Mr. Big shot nickname was true to form.  After a back and forth battle in which the Clippers led by 5 points with less than 40 seconds to go in the game, Jason “the Jet” Terry made two “3 point” shots to give the Mavs the lead before Billups hit the game winner on a nothing but net 3 point shot with one second left to give LA the 91-89 win and end his night with 21 pts. 

Wow, what a game as the Clippers missed their new All Star Point Guard Chris Paul for the 3rd straight game with a hamstring injury.  He should be back soon but Mo Williams came up huge with a game high 26 points on 11-15 hot shooting.  Former Mav and current Clipper Caron Butler had an off game going 1-12 but Blake Griffin added 14 pts and 17 rebounds including some highlight real dunks while DeAndre Jordan had a great game with 19 points.

The Mavs had a balanced attack with Delonte West and Dirk Nowitski each getting 17 points.  Dirk (who missed the morning shoot around as he was under the weather) isn’t playing at the level he was in last year’s playoffs and Jason Kidd has slowed down.  Plus the losses of Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea &  Peja have been a lot to come back from.  Lamar Odom hasn’t played up to form either so the team is stuggling.  The Mavs are 0-5 on the road this year vs. western conference opponents and seem to be in trouble with their lack of depth and key players that left especially Chandler and Barea.

The Clippers are looking like a tough team that keeps improving since they have added quite a few new and exciting players to the team this year.  The biggest one was Paul, who has shown his great play before getting injured. This team will challenge the Lakerss for the division title and be a force in the playoffs if they keep their core players intact.  This team is fun to watch, talented and on its way to being one of the best teams in the western conference. Do yourself a favor and go the link below to buy tickets while they are available to a future game or season tickets this year.

More at www.nba.com/clippers