Late-season drama in store for Mavericks, starting with Clippers

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – If you are looking for intrigue and maybe a little chaos in the last 10 days of the NBA regular season, you’ve landed in the right spot.

The Mavericks have plenty in store in their remaining five games, starting with a pair of meetings with the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome on Friday and Saturday.

What’s so special about that?

Mostly, the Clippers are one of three teams fighting for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference standings, which gets a guaranteed berth in the playoffs.

Nos. 7 and 8 will have to go through the SoFi play-in tournament, as will teams stationed at No. 9 (currently the Mavericks) and No. 10 (currently Sacramento).

The Clippers, Minnesota and Memphis all had 44-32 records as of Thursday and they will duke it out for spots 6-through-8 in the final West standings. Add in Golden State, which is a half-game better than the trio at 44-32 and it’s a complete jumble in the middle of the West standings.

All of this means that if things were to break right, the Mavericks and Clippers could meet again in a win-or-go-home game were the Mavericks to win their first play-in game and the Clippers to lose theirs.

That’s a lot of ifs, but given the way that the Mavericks and Clippers have been joined in the past five seasons, battling in three playoff series since 2020, would it surprise anybody if they met again in a one-and-done scenario?

They may get the chance to build more history between the franchises later this month.

For now, the Mavericks still have to take care of business to hang on to the ninth spot and secure the home court for their initial play-in game – which still isn’t guaranteed, of course. Phoenix and Portland remain mathematically alive to pass the Mavericks and Sacramento.

But after Wednesday’s win over Atlanta, the Mavericks are in excellent position.

And, by the way, their remaining schedule happens to include the mouthwatering game Wednesday against Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center.

That game will have massive appeal. But it will be a lot more fun and maybe a little less stressful for the Mavericks if they can take care of business against the Clippers first.

Here’s what else to watch for in Friday’s meeting with the Clippers.

• It will be the Mavericks’ first visit to the Intuit Dome since they played the Clippers in the preseason on Oct. 14. The Clips came to Dallas for a pair of games just before Christmas. Neither game was close. The Mavericks lost the first one by 23 points, then won by 16 in the rematch.
• Though James Harden (22.5 points) and Norman Powell (22.4) are their leading scorers, the Clippers have gotten a terrific season out of center Ivica Zubac, who is averaging 16.5 points and 12.5 rebounds while shooting 62.3 percent from the floor. He is not, however, a three-point threat so expect the Mavericks to try to lure him out of the paint with Anthony Davis.
• Kawhi Leonard has played less than half of the Clippers’ games, but he still has the ability to take over games. He’s averaging 20.8 points and shooting 40 percent from three-point land.
• The Clippers are fourth in the league in fewest points allowed at 108.2 and seventh in field-goal percentage defense at 45.9.
• The Mavericks just finished a stretch of nine consecutive games against Eastern Conference opponents, going 5-4. They have one game left against East competition (Toronto on April 11).
• Health is becoming the Mavericks’ friend, to a certain extent. But it’s a mixed bag heading into Friday’s game. Dereck Lively II has been ruled out for management of the stress fracture in his right ankle. He had four points, five rebounds and a block in 16 minutes on Wednesday.
• Anthony Davis is listed as questionable for Friday’s game and it’s possible that he could be held out of either Friday’s or Saturday’s game as he has not yet played both ends of back-to-back games with the Mavericks.
• J. Washington, who missed Wednesday’s game with the Hawks, is not on the Mavericks’ injury report. Out are Kyrie Irving, Dante Exum and O-Max Prosper.

MAVERICKS (38-39) at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (44-32)

WHEN: 9:30 p.m., Friday.

WHERE: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, Calif.

TV: WFAA Channel 8, KFAA 29, MAVSTV STREAM.

RADIO: KEGL 97.1 FM, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @ESefko