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NBA: LA Clippers 103, Dallas Mavericks 85
Cuttino Mobley scored 28 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks 103-85 Wednesday night, keeping the defending Western Conference champions winless.
The Mavericks, who tied a club record last season with 60 wins and came within two victories of their first NBA championship, have opened a season 0-4 for the first time in the franchise's 27-year history. They are the first team since the 2001-02 Philadelphia 76ers to start out with four straight losses after going to the finals. This is the first time Dallas has lost four straight games since Avery Johnson succeeded Don Nelson as coach on March 19, 2005. Johnson, the reigning NBA coach of the year, entered this season 76-24. Jason Terry led Dallas with 23 points. Jerry Stackhouse made his first start of the season at small forward in place of Josh Howard, who is expected to be sidelined at least two weeks because of a sprained left ankle. Stackhouse scored 12 points in 37 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas. He was kept on a short leash by the referees during the final 28 minutes of play, thanks to a technical he got with 4:05 left in the second quarter after complaining that Mobley fouled him while stripping him of the ball. Sam Cassell had 21 points and nine assists for the Los Angeles Clippers, who have won four straight after losing at Phoenix on opening night. Los Angeles has won six of its last 12 games against Dallas after losing 17 of the previous 19 meetings. Two of their three losses to the Mavericks last season were decided by two-point margins. Down by as many as 14 points late in the first quarter, the Los Angeles Clippers went on a 17-7 run in the third to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into a 60-57 advantage. They took their first lead, 57-56, on a 10-foot jumper by Cassell with 7:48 left in the quarter and never trailed again. Mobley triggered a 12-4 run with a driving layup and 16-foot bank shot, and Elton Brand capped it with four free throws to give Los Angeles a 97-83 cushion with 1:54 remaining. Brand finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Terry, who was ejected from Monday's game against Golden State after getting a flagrant foul for clotheslining Monta Ellis, helped Dallas open a 30-17 lead late in the opening quarter. But the Los Angeles Clippers rallied with an 8-0 run in the second quarter and Mobley drained a 3-pointer from 33 feet away, narrowing the gap to 48-41 with 36 seconds left in the half. Notes:@ Dallas and Denver (0-3) are the NBA's only winless teams. Boston also won its first game on Wednesday. ... Mavericks coach Avery Johnson and Los Angeles Clippers counterpart Mike Dunleavy both guided a team to the finals in their first season as head coaches - Dunleavy doing it with the 1990-91 Lakers. Both have earned NBA coach of the year honors, Dunleavy in 1998-99 with Portland. ... Dunleavy got a technical foul from referee Tony Brothers after complaining about Chris Kaman
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