Doc Rivers said Wednesday that there's no defined date regarding Blake Griffin's return from elbow surgery, but it's unlikely he'll suit-up when the Clippers take on the Mavericks on Friday in Dallas.
Fortunately, the Clippers may not need Griffin to beat Dallas. The Mavericks are in the midst of a terrible swoon, and have been for the last couple of months, really. They were embarrassed at home by the Cavaliers on Tuesday (127-94) and are just 15-15 since January 7th.
They swung one of the league's biggest trades in December when they nabbed Rajon Rondo from the Celtics in exchange for little more than a first-round pick, and that's blown-up in their face. Many figured Rondo's sluggish numbers were due to the fact that he was playing for the floundering, rebuilding Celtics, but he's not picked it up at all since coming to Dallas.
The Mavericks had the league's No. 1 rated offense prior to the December 18th deal, but have dropped all the way to No. 5 since. The Clippers, despite having been without Griffin for their last 14 games, now own the top spot.
On paper, Dallas' starting five is as potent as it gets. Rondo, Monta Ellis, Chandler Parsons, Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler sure looks quite the fearsome fivesome. But the on-court product looks more a cast of ill-fitting parts than anything else these days.
Rondo can't shoot at all, and generally doesn't seem to mesh with his teammates. Ellis, who many thought would be an awkward fit alongside Rondo, has proven those prognosticators correct. Parsons has perked-up of late since being mired in an early-season slump. Nowitzki, sadly, appears to be on the rapid decline, and isn't anything close to the player we saw dismantle Miami in the 2011 Finals. And Tyson Chandler, though he's been great most of the year, now appears hurt and doesn't have the same impact he's had previously.
Combine all those factors with a so-so bench featuring has-beens and retreads and you get this. Dallas is currently clinging to the No. 7 spot in the West, though still 4.5 games clear of 8th-place New Orleans. It seems unlikely that the Mavs will miss the postseason altogether, but if they did, that result would have to rank high among the biggest disappointments in recent NBA history.
Their coach, Rick Carlisle, is widely regarded as one of the league's master tacticians, but even he seems befuddled by what's gone on with his team of late. Following that loss to Cleveland, he went so far as to say he was "sick to (his) stomach" and that this is their low point for the year. I'd certainly say so, Rick.
Of course, all is not yet lost. There's still slightly over a month's worth of regular season games remaining, and we've seen plenty of teams refocus and gear themselves up for a playoff run following an in-season swoon. But what's worrisome about the Mavericks has been the length of this particular suboptimal run. Two months is an awful long time to be playing mediocre ball, especially for a team that considers itself a championship contender.
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