The Los Angeles Clippers (5-2) head down to Texas to take on the Dallas Mavericks (3-4) on Wednesday in a matchup that features a little more anticipation than your typical November game.
The main storyline heading into this game is DeAndre Jordan as he will play his first game in Dallas after the fiasco he created when he backed out of his verbal agreement with the Mavericks and ultimately decided to return to the Clippers. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has added fuel to that in recent days as he says he still has the texts between him and Jordan and he might reveal what's in them soon.
Jordan figures to be entering a hostile environment and will likely be booed the entire night but he is ready for it. Jordan is averaging a double-double this season with 10.1 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. He has also added 3.9 blocks per contest but isn't a bigger part of the offense as he hoped he would be this season.
Chris Paul missed a game with a hamstring injury last week but returned on Monday and played 33 minutes so he should be just fine for this game. Aside from Paul's groin injury, which seems to be gone now, the Clippers are extremely healthy and should have everyone available to them including Blake Griffin who is having an MVP start to the season as he is averaging 28.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game and has a PER of 31.4.
While the Clippers are extremely healthy, the same cannot be said for the Mavericks. Chandler Parsons is back from microfracture surgery on his knee but he is on a strict minutes limit and has averaged just 14.4 minutes in his five games played. Wesley Matthews has played in and started six of the Mavericks seven games but he too is working his way back from major surgery. Matthews is averaging just 25.2 minutes per game and his PER is just 7.0 while he is working himself back into shape.
Deron Williams has also been dealing with nagging injuries of his own but he has played in all but one game and has been pretty good. Williams is averaging 13.0 points per game but just 4.8 assists. The Mavericks best player, other than Dirk Nowitzki who has been great again so far this year, has actually been backup center Dwight Powell. Powell has earned the backup center spot and has the second highest PER on the team at 20.6 (behind Nowitzki's 24.9.) Powell is averaging 11.1 points and 7.7 rebounds in just 21.9 minutes per game and has provided a huge lift for the Mavericks so far this season.
The Mavericks are extremely depleted so they are big underdogs in this game at home but they have a little something extra to play for with Jordan making his first visit to Dallas this season. This game should be fun to watch just because of the crowd's reaction to the Clippers center but also because it could be closer than it looks like it should be on paper.
The game tips off at 8 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Mavericks radio broadcast go here and for the Clippers radio broadcast go here.
