Oct. 30--The Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 104-88, in their home opener at Staples Center on Thursday, a matchup that was fueled by a story line from July -- when then free-agent center DeAndre Jordan backed out of a verbal commitment with the Mavericks to return to the Clippers -- that clearly still has reverberations to this day.
The night included Mark Cuban making some incendiary remarks about the Clippers before tipoff, and an emoji segment on the jumbotron during the game, in which Clippers players joked about various emoji faces. (The Clippers and Mavericks had an epic emoji battle over Twitter the day that Jordan agreed to re-sign with the Clippers.)
The Clippers held control for the majority of the game and led by as many as 28 points against the short-handed Mavericks, who were without Chandler Parsons, JaVale McGee, Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams.
The game included some chippy play between Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki, highlighted by a play in the second quarter when Jordan put his arm down to get position against Nowitzki, making a lot of contact with his elbow against Nowitzki's face. After that play, words were exchanged between the teams and three technical fouls were given out -- one to Jordan, one to Blake Griffin and one to Raymond Felton. The crowd loved it, many fans even stood up and chanted "DJ, DJ."
Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting and 10 rebounds. Reserves Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Jordan finished with a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with six points on two-for-two shooting, though he only made two of his eight free throws.
The Mavericks were led by John Jenkins, who had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. Nowitzki finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
In an awkward yet hilarious moment, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban were shown split-screen on the Kiss-Cam. Ballmer puckered up multiple times before Cuban eventually blew his counterpart a kiss in return.
The Clippers' next game is against the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on Saturday. The Clippers beat the Kings at Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday in the season opener, 111-104.
