A Good Second Half Means A Win: Mavericks 112 Clippers 105

It was refreshing to see the Mavericks come alive in the second half. While much of Tuesday’s buzz was focused on the dunk show that is Blake Griffin, the Mavs electrified the crowd by turning a 15-point deficit into a 17-point lead and eventual 112-105 victory at the American Airlines Center.

It was different pattern compared to how Mavericks’ games have been going this month: the Mavs won a game they started out struggling instead of a fast start ending with a thud.

You could kind of see it coming when a previously cold Dirk Nowitzki scored the final 11 points of the half for the Mavericks to pull the team within eight at 62-54. Nowitzki’s streak lasted 3 minutes and 14 seconds. The 62 points surrendered by the Mavs through two quarters was the most in a half this season.

Tyson Chandler, who scored a season-high 21 and DeShawn Stevenson helped the Mavs hold the Clippers to 16 points in the quarter while the Mavs tallied 27. After four missed attempts to take the lead, Jason Terry, who led all scorers with 28, passed the ball to Shawn Marion, who did his own version of a Blake Griffin dunk. At that point, the scoreboard read 76-75 at the 1:39 mark of the third. The better team never trailed again.

• Four Mavs over 20 points: Terry (28), Barea (25), Chandler (21), Nowitzki (20)
• Terry and Chandler scored season-highs.
• A double-double for Marion with 10 points and 10 rebound
• Blake Griffin had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers.