esday night and celebrated consecutive wins for the first ti

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DALLAS -- The Los Angeles Clippers have not tired of inflicting fourth-quarter pain on the Dallas Mavericks. . The Clippers rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final period to beat the Mavericks 109-103 on Thursday night. Los Angeles has won all three meetings thus far, with second-half rallies in each game. Each meeting has also featured plenty of emotion. On Thursday, the teams combined for six technical fouls charged to players on the floor, three on each team. "We need to start playing like that more often, to tell you the truth," Chris Paul said after leading Los Angeles with 31 points, a night after going 0 for 12 in a two-point loss in New Orleans. "We knew it was going to be a playoff-type game. Theyre not just playing for their playoff lives; were trying to gear up for the playoffs, too." The Clippers got double-doubles from Blake Griffin (18 points, 13 rebounds) and DeAndre Jordan (16 points, 15 rebounds). Los Angeles maintained its one-game lead over Houston for third place in the Western Conference. Vince Carter scored 23 points off the bench for the Mavericks, going 4 for 5 on 3-pointers. Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points but only two in the fourth quarter. "Its tough. Its very frustrating," Carter said. "But we fought like hell to give ourselves a chance to win, and thats all you can do." Samuel Dalembert was questionable going into the game for Dallas because of a stiff back. He started, played 22 minutes and led the Mavericks with 11 rebounds -- all in the first half. The loss dropped Dallas a half-game behind Phoenix and into ninth place in the tight race for the final playoff berths in the West. The score was tied at 81 going into the final period before the Mavericks ran off the first 10 points. Los Angeles chipped away and tied it at 101 on a drive by Griffin. Dallas then committed a backcourt violation when a pass from Nowitzki back to Jose Calderon near midcourt went astray. Griffin followed with a spinning runner to give the Clippers the lead for good at 103-101. Griffin was pleased with the defence that he played on Nowitzki, who was 7 for 15 from the floor. "For the past how many years, everything Ive heard is the things I couldnt do," he said. "One of the many things I cant do is play defence. "I take pride in the things I cant do. I just use that as motivation." The Clippers victory Thursday was their least dramatic in the series so far. They outscored the Mavericks 16-2 down the stretch to win by seven points in the first meeting on Jan. 5. Twelve days later, they rallied from 17 points down to win by two. A shoving match broke out early in the third quarter after the Mavericks brought the ball into the forecourt. Paul pushed Dallas Shawn Marion, who knocked into the Clippers Matt Barnes while falling over the end line. Barnes and Marion then had words, and Barnes shoved Marion. Paul, Marion and Barnes were all assessed technical fouls. "I just think its been a heated battle," Barnes said. "They had us down in the fourth three times, and theyre playing for the playoffs." Clippers coach Doc Rivers noted his team responded after Wednesday nights last-minute loss to the depleted Pelicans. "You could see our guys were fresh," Rivers said. "In a joking way, we should have been fresh because we didnt use a lot (Wednesday) night." The Mavericks are 3-3 on a franchise-record, eight-game homestand, having opened the stretch in seventh place with a 1 1/2-game cushion on ninth-place Phoenix. "Its basically the next game becomes the most important game of the year," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Thats just how it is going to be, every one down the stretch." The Mavericks will then close the season with five road games among their final seven. That includes one more game against the Clippers, at Staples Center on April 3. "We have one more chance," Calderon said. "Hopefully, next week maybe we can beat these guys." NOTES: The Clippers J.J. Redick, out since early February with a back injury, said he hopes to return before the end of the season. . Nowitzki, a 91.8 per cent shooter from the free throw line going into the game, was 6 for 10, equaling his most misses this season. . The team said they will announce a corresponding roster move prior to their series opener on Tuesday night in Kansas City. .Boston beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night and celebrated consecutive wins for the first time in more than a month. . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona.Anaheim, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - On a night the Anaheim Ducks retired Teemu Selannes No. 8 jersey, it was only fitting that a Finland native won the game. Sami Vatanen scored the decisive goal in the sixth round of the shootout as the Ducks rallied to beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-4 at Honda Center. Rickard Rakell had two goals and two assistss for Anaheim, which killed a pair of 5-on-3 power plays before erasing a two-goal deficit in the third period. . Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for the Ducks, who improved to 4-2-0 on their eight-game homestand. Mark Scheifele had a goal with one assist and Ondrej Pavelec stopped 39 shots, who have lost three of four. ' ' '

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