8:35 PM EST (NBA) - LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS VS. DALLAS MAVERICKS PREVIEW AND FREE PICKS
Time: 08:30 P.M. EST Venue: American Airlines Center The Los Angeles Clippers have been able to rely on Chris Paul with Blake Griffin sidelined, and J. J. Redick has also elevated his play in Jamal Crawford's absence. They seek their first season series sweep of the reeling Mavericks in 21 years Friday night in Dallas. Paul has shot 50.4 percent and averaged 12.4 assists in helping Los Angeles (42-23) go 9-5 since losing Griffin, who underwent surgery last month to remove a staph infection from his elbow. Free NBA Picks. Coach Doc Rivers said that Griffin, who ranks eighth in scoring at 22.5 points per game, is "very close" to returning. Paul, averaging 18.4 points, has scored 28 or more in four of six, including a 33-point performance in a 120-108 win at Oklahoma City on Wednesday. He has averaged 23.7 points on 55.6 percent shooting in his last six meetings with Dallas, recording 13 assists in each of the two victories earlier this season. Crawford has also missed four games with a bruised calf, and there is no timetable for his return. Redick, who has averaged 18.5 points without Griffin compared to 14.4 previously, has scored 25-plus in three of four." With Blake out, with Jamal out, those shots have to go somewhere," Redick told the team's official website. "It's playing minutes and getting good shots. Doc runs good stuff, playing with Chris makes it easy. There's not a whole lot to it. I move a lot, probably. That'd be the other thing, just working off the ball." Redick is shooting a career-high 42.7 percent from 3-point range and will look to exploit Dallas, which has let its last six opponents shoot 40.7 percent from deep. The Mavericks, 1 1/2 games behind the fifth-place Clippers, have had bigger issues offensively. Dallas (41-25) has dropped five of seven while averaging 91.6 points and shooting 26.8 percent from beyond the arc, compared to 105.8 and 35.7 previously. Top scorers Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki have been limited to a combined 29.1 points per game in that span, and both players are shooting under 40 percent. The Mavericks shot 40.7 percent and were 5 of 20 from 3-point range in a 127-94 loss to Cleveland on Tuesday, their worst at home since falling 112-79 to Atlanta on Dec. 2, 1997. They were outscored 101-63 after the first quarter." We're 3 1/2 games from being out of the playoffs, which is unacceptable," Amare Stoudemire told the team's official website. "This is something that we can't accept. ... We've got to key in to the details of the game of basketball, and we can't cheat the game. We can't (mess) around in shootarounds and practice and joke all the time, and figure that we're going to win games." Free Sports Picks. This is the pros and it's the highest level of basketball, so we've got to act that way." Nowitzki has shot 56.3 percent in his last three meetings, though Los Angeles has limited teams to 41.5 percent shooting with Griffin out. The Clippers, who have won eight of 10 in the series, haven't swept the Mavericks since taking all four meetings in 1993-94. They won 120-100 in Los Angeles on Jan. 10 and 115-98 on the road on Feb. 9. They are also seeking a fourth straight victory in Dallas for the first time since a five-game winning streak there from March 18, 1992-March 8, 1994.
Time: 08:30 P.M. EST Venue: American Airlines Center The Los Angeles Clippers have been able to rely on Chris Paul with Blake Griffin sidelined, and J. J. Redick has also elevated his play in Jamal Crawford's absence. They seek their first season series sweep of the reeling Mavericks in 21 years Friday night in Dallas. Paul has shot 50.4 percent and averaged 12.4 assists in helping Los Angeles (42-23) go 9-5 since losing Griffin, who underwent surgery last month to remove a staph infection from his elbow. Free NBA Picks. Coach Doc Rivers said that Griffin, who ranks eighth in scoring at 22.5 points per game, is "very close" to returning. Paul, averaging 18.4 points, has scored 28 or more in four of six, including a 33-point performance in a 120-108 win at Oklahoma City on Wednesday. He has averaged 23.7 points on 55.6 percent shooting in his last six meetings with Dallas, recording 13 assists in each of the two victories earlier this season. Crawford has also missed four games with a bruised calf, and there is no timetable for his return. Redick, who has averaged 18.5 points without Griffin compared to 14.4 previously, has scored 25-plus in three of four." With Blake out, with Jamal out, those shots have to go somewhere," Redick told the team's official website. "It's playing minutes and getting good shots. Doc runs good stuff, playing with Chris makes it easy. There's not a whole lot to it. I move a lot, probably. That'd be the other thing, just working off the ball." Redick is shooting a career-high 42.7 percent from 3-point range and will look to exploit Dallas, which has let its last six opponents shoot 40.7 percent from deep. The Mavericks, 1 1/2 games behind the fifth-place Clippers, have had bigger issues offensively. Dallas (41-25) has dropped five of seven while averaging 91.6 points and shooting 26.8 percent from beyond the arc, compared to 105.8 and 35.7 previously. Top scorers Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki have been limited to a combined 29.1 points per game in that span, and both players are shooting under 40 percent. The Mavericks shot 40.7 percent and were 5 of 20 from 3-point range in a 127-94 loss to Cleveland on Tuesday, their worst at home since falling 112-79 to Atlanta on Dec. 2, 1997. They were outscored 101-63 after the first quarter." We're 3 1/2 games from being out of the playoffs, which is unacceptable," Amare Stoudemire told the team's official website. "This is something that we can't accept. ... We've got to key in to the details of the game of basketball, and we can't cheat the game. We can't (mess) around in shootarounds and practice and joke all the time, and figure that we're going to win games." Free Sports Picks. This is the pros and it's the highest level of basketball, so we've got to act that way." Nowitzki has shot 56.3 percent in his last three meetings, though Los Angeles has limited teams to 41.5 percent shooting with Griffin out. The Clippers, who have won eight of 10 in the series, haven't swept the Mavericks since taking all four meetings in 1993-94. They won 120-100 in Los Angeles on Jan. 10 and 115-98 on the road on Feb. 9. They are also seeking a fourth straight victory in Dallas for the first time since a five-game winning streak there from March 18, 1992-March 8, 1994.
