Clippers scores last 13 to rally past Mavs

Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. (left) hits Los Angeles Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari on the face with the ball as he tries to pass during the second half of their game on Monday, Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Smith was charged with an offensive foul on the play. AP

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February 7, 2018
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Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. (left) hits Los Angeles Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari on the face with the ball as he tries to pass during the second half of their game on Monday, Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Smith was charged with an offensive foul on the play. AP

LOS ANGELES – After playing more than 50,000 minutes, Dirk Nowitzki has certainly made a name for himself – even if it’s still hard to spell sometimes.

On a night when his last name was botched on the back of his jersey, the Dallas forward became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 50,000 career minutes.

He finished with 12 points but the Mavericks collapsed down the stretch in a 104-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Nowitzki said he didn’t notice until after the game that his name was misspelled on his uniform.

“I actually just saw it,” he explained. “I had no idea. It happens. I guess it sums up our season.”

Danilo Gallinari had 28 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 24 seconds left, and the Clippers scored the last 13 points of the game to rally past a Mavs team that went scoreless over the final 4:42.

Tobias Harris had 19 points for Los Angeles, and Lou Williams added 15 off the bench.

“This felt like a steal game, because we didn’t play well and they shot the heck out of the ball,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “To steal a game like this, you feel like you got two games.”

With the Clippers up by one after Gallinari’s free throws, DeAndre Jordan won a jump ball with 4.5 seconds remaining and tipped it to Avery Bradley for a fast-break layup that made it 104-101.

Yogi Ferrell had a chance to tie it with 0.4 seconds to play, but he stepped out of bounds before his shot bounced off the rim.

“When you’re playing from in front, you’ve got to protect the ball and get good shots and we struggled to do both,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.

Wesley Matthews led the Mavericks with 23 points and Devin Harris added 16 off the bench.

Nowitzki passed Elvin Hayes (exactly 50,000 minutes) for fifth place on the career list in the regular season. Nowitzki has played an additional 5,895 minutes in the playoffs. Next among active players on the regular-season minutes list is Utah’s Joe Johnson at 43,806. (AP)
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