Preview: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks
NBA / Western Conference
American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Monday, February 13th, 2012. 8:30 PM EST
Analysis of the Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers will be ending their 6-game road stretch in Dallas going against the defending champions. They’ve played well over the course of the last 5 games as well, going 4-1 with one freak loss at Cleveland. After a great start to the season (currently 17-8) the Clippers could really use a good end to this road test and a victory against the Mavericks would make that happen.
Analysis of the Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs stumbled a bit out of the gate this season before coming back and winning their last 3 games (17-11 overall). Not coincidentally the Mavericks turned their season around once star PF Dirk Nowitski came back from extra conditioning during the start of the season. The champs may have looked like they were headed for a down-season a few weeks ago, but their play as of late as shown the league that little has changed from last season.
Key Players
Los Angeles Clippers: Blake Griffin
The leading scorer on a high-scoring Clippers squad, Griffin will be relied upon to score 20+ and pull down around 15 rebounds if the Clips want a win in Dallas. It won’t be easy with his matchup being Nowitski, an underrated defender.
Dallas Mavericks: Jason Terry
A candidate for 6th-man of the year this season, SG Terry has come off the bench in every game this season and plays the 2nd-most amount of minutes on the team. Against a squad with little SG depth, Terry will have a favorable matchup against fellow SG Randy Foyend if he can take advantage the Mavs will win at home.
Key Statistics
Free Throw Differential:
Both of these teams are poor at free throw differential, averaging about 2.5 fewer free throws made than the opposing squad each time they play. Considering that both of these teams rely on their power forwards, you can expect some significant free throw opportunities on Monday night. The team that hits their free throws will take this one.
Ticket Prices
The Dallas Mavericks have been selling out every game this year and tonight against the Clippers is no exception. Tickets for tonights Mavs Vs Clippers game are up considerably from last season when the Clippers were a cake walk. For tonights game TiqIQ.com is showing 302 tickets available, cheapclipperstickets.com 160 available, MaverickTickets.com 180.00 available.
Winner: TiqIQ.com
Upper Levels
To get in the door (upper level) TiqIQ.com is showing section $318 row K for $23.00 a ticket. Great price, last year these tickets were actually going for $12.00 so almost a 100% jump in price for get in’s.
Club Levels.
There is no club levels available tonight.
Lower Levels
Lower Levels can run between $121 to $593 on TiqIQ.com. Cheapclipperstickets.com is showing 120 row AA which is baseline for $714.00 which if you can afford it, it’s a great seat to sit in. MaverickTickets.com is showing 117 row BB (baseline) for $655.00 a ticket. This is a great seat but going away from Center.
TiqIQ.com has the most seats available for tonight’s game, they also provide a great engine that shows if the prices are on their way up or down. Such as 300 levels have been down -27% this week.
Where to go before the game?
Check out Havana Social Club if you have some time to kill before the game. They are the Premier Cigar and Rum Destination inDallas. They offer Rum, Wine and Cocktails. Prices are about $10-$15 per entree
Prediction
The Clippers and Mavericks are both going to come into this one hot, and something will have to give when the two Western Conference elites collide. The Clippers have played surprisingly well on the road this season and the Mavericks have defended their home court well also, so home court advantage seems to matter little. In the end I think that the presence of Chris Paul will give this one to the Clippers.
Prediction = Los Angeles Clippers: 105 – Dallas Mavericks: 95