The Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers notched their first wins of the season and both are looking for their second win in the matchup that will take place later today, Thursday. However, there is more to this National Basketball Association (NBA) game than notching a victory, considering the two had a pretty controversial offseason.
Headlining that, of course, was DeAndre Jordan who initially committed (verbally) to joining Dallas only to back out when the contract-signing period begun.
Such affected the Mavericks severely, leaving the team to scramble and look into the best available talent.
The Mavs were able to sign Deron Williams and Wes Matthews and both made decent debuts in that 111–95 win over the Phoenix Suns. For the Mavericks to pull off this one, head coach Rick Carlisle will have to get the same balanced production from his bench.
The Clippers showed why they are one of the favorites to win this season when they defeated the Sacramento Kings. Blake Griffin was his usual scoring self, while Paul Pierce seemed to be pretty comfortable playing for his new team.
But the main guy in focus for this matchup is undoubtedly DeAndre Jordan. How will his game be against a team that he ditched? He had a so-so debut against the Sacramento Kings and things aren't expected to get any easier as he faces the team that wants to show him what he gave up.
The Clippers are obvious favourites in this matchup, but if the Mavericks can get everyone contributing to the game, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers may be in for a long night.
The Los Angeles Clippers face the Dallas Mavericks at the Staples Center in Los Angeles today, Oct. 29, starting at 10:30 p.m. EST. The match will be televised via TNT. Live streaming is also available here.
