LOS ANGELES_Los Angeles Clippers Coach Doc Rivers was upset that his team turned the ball over 20 times and gave up 14 offensive rebounds.
"What killed us was the 20 turnovers and the offensive rebounds," Rivers said. "When one team (Dallas) takes 87 shots and you take 74, that's 13 more field goals than you, you're probably going to lose the game. And even in that, we still had a chance to win the game."
On Barnes last shot: "I thought Luc did a good job on him," Rivers said. "He scored two tough shots on Luc. I'll take those shots all night, every day."
Playing without their two biggest stars could have easily left the Clippers shaken.
They accepted their fate without complaint Friday night, but that wasn't enough to get them a win. The Dallas Mavericks defeated them, 90-88, at Staples Center on Harrison Barnes' 10-foot shot in the lane with 3.7 seconds to play.
Winning games became an even tougher task for the Clippers with Chris Paul on the sideline Friday after sustaining a strained left hamstring Thursday night against San Antonio.
Blake Griffin, their leading scorer, was already out, having undergone surgery Tuesday on his right knee. He's expected to miss three to six weeks.
So it was up to the rest of the Clippers to keep moving ahead. But when Wesley Matthews made one of two free throws, the Clippers saw the score tied at 88-88 with 33.5 seconds left.
Then it was left up to DeAndre Jordan to make good on his free-throw work when he was fouled with 27.4 seconds left. But Jordan missed both free throws, leaving the scored tied and allowing the Mavericks to call a time out with 27.1 seconds left.
Barnes made the Clippers pay by scoring over Luc Mbah a Moute for a 90-88 Mavericks lead with 3.7 seconds left.
With no time outs left, the Clippers gave the ball to Austin Rivers. But he had the ball tipped away as he dribbled up court by Seth Curry, ruining any chance of the Clippers even getting off a shot.
It's not Doc Rivers' style to whine about what the Clippers coach doesn't have. He is always about the next man up, and when he has such a deep and talented roster, Rivers knows his bench can rescue the Clippers in most circumstances.
One of those players was super sixth-man Jamal Crawford, who had 26 points.
Another of those players was Jordan, who did what he does best. Jordan collected 17 rebounds, blocked two shots and scored seven points.
Raymond Felton (eight points) started in place of Paul and Paul Pierce (three) started for the third straight game for Griffin.
The Mavericks are a team that's in a bad way these days.
When they met the Clippers last month in Dallas, the Mavericks were beaten by 24 points.
Friday night, the Clippers had to work for a 51-50 half-time lead.
Austin Rivers came off the bench to provide the Clippers with a lift, scoring 11 points on four-for-nine shooting, including three-for-five on three-pointers.
It was his three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half that gave the Clippers their one-point lead.
The Clippers actually made 62.5 percent of their three-pointers in the first half, going 10-for-16.
Dirk Nowitzki had 17 points in the first half and Barnes 13 to keep Dallas close at the half.
