Mavericks Must Move on from DeAndre Jordan Saga and Wednesday NBA Takeaways

It's not clear if anyone who actually plays for the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Clippers cares about DeAndre Jordan's offseason change of heart, but there's no doubt Mavs fans and team owner Mark Cuban have some thoughts on the matter.

They expressed them before, during and after the Mavericks' 118-108 win over the Clips.

On Wednesday, Jordan played in Dallas for the first time since agreeing in principle to sign with the Mavericks and then reversing course at the 11th hour. In the real world, what Jordan did is referred to as "changing one's mind." In the mostly nonsensical, double-standard-riddled NBA (seriously, think about how teams can flip players, upend lives and bend to the whims of executives even when contracts are formally in place), what Jordan did was essentially a capital crime.

So DJ was greeted as expected, per Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com:

The jeering persisted whenever Jordan touched the ball, with its volume rivaled only by the cheers when he missed shots from the field or the foul line. And Cuban got his licks in against Jordan and Clippers head coach Doc Rivers before the game even started, per Tim Cato of MavsMoneyball.com:

Cuban's comments were very on-brand for an owner whose organization played a seven-minute animated video ripping Jordan and the Clippers before their home opener on Nov. 3.

There were no such videos in advance of Wednesday's game, but the Mavs secured some satisfaction with the win—not to mention the means with which they achieved it. Dallas started four offseason additions alongside mainstay Dirk Nowitzki, and each of them played key roles in the win.

Wesley Matthews scored 25 points, grabbed six boards and handed out three assists in putting together his best effort of the season. Zaza Pachulia thrived on the chippy, overtly physical atmosphere that seems to follow the Clippers wherever they go, and even Raymond Felton had his moments, scoring 13 points on nine shots.

Nowitzki led all scorers with 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field, and let's hope his efforts reminded Cuban and the heckling Mavs fans that sometimes it's more fun to appreciate what you've already got than pine for what you almost had.

And Nowitzki is still very much worth appreciating, according to this ridiculous stat from Synergy Sports Tech:

Despite the loss, the Clippers' future remains brighter than Dallas', and Jordan probably made the right decision in returning to Los Angeles. Even if he could have gone about it another way.

For the record, he finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Clips won't return to Dallas until March 7, which will hopefully be enough time for Cuban and anyone else still feeling salty over Jordan's decision to move on, because that's what Dallas needs more than anything else. And based on some of the positive signs we saw Wednesday, the Mavericks have plenty of reasons to focus on the future. That beats living in the past.

Or, you know, maybe the Mavs will just keep trolling DJ and the Clippers forever.

The Buzzer-Beaters That Were...And Weren't

A couple of big-market clubs were on the wrong end of some late-game buckets on Wednesday, as both the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks fell in the final seconds of their respective contests against the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets.

Nikola Vucevic buried a long turnaround over Roy Hibbert as time expired to give the Magic the victory, though if there's a silver lining in defeat, it's that head coach Byron Scott finally relented and played rookie D'Angelo Russell meaningful minutes in the fourth quarter.

In Charlotte, another rookie, Kristaps Porzingis, was about a tenth of a second late in releasing what would have been a game-winning trey.

Given the mounting groundswell of love for Porzingis' game and potential, that one would have engulfed basketball Twitter in flames. Instead, when the bucket was waved off, it was Cody Zeller's duck-in layup with 1.2 seconds that stood as the game-winner.

So, while both the Knicks and Lakers lost, each got encouraging performances from players they hope will lead them as future stars.

Small consolation, maybe, but remember: Losing is still better than winning for these teams that need more bites at the lottery apple to replenish depleted talent pools. And if those losses come with rookies making progress, that's all the better.

The Raptors Found the Fix

Nothing cures a precipitous three-game plunge like a visit to the Philadelphia 76ers, who haven't won a regular-season game in eight months. The Toronto Raptors sorted themselves out, ending their skid with a 119-103 win in Philly on Wednesday.

Despite the laudable optimism espoused by Sixers head coach Brett Brown, who told Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com, "I truly think we can beat anybody on a given night," Philly only managed to keep things competitive against the Raps for the first quarter.

After running up a season-best 34 points in the opening stanza, the 76ers came back to their senses.

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Jahlil Okafor managed 26 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, but he was one of very few bright spots. And it can't go unmentioned that his consistently underwhelming effort on the boards was a key factor in the Raptors dominating Philly on the glass, 56-37.

Even though a win over the 0-8 Sixers doesn't feel like much of a triumph, the Raptors should be glad they got this one. With six straight games coming up against opponents from the West, Toronto's record will need all the padding it can get.

Life Is Harder Without Anthony Davis

It's like the New Orleans Pelicans are engaged in some kind of real-world test of Murphy's Law.

Whatever could go wrong has gone wrong so far, and Anthony Davis missing Wednesday's 106-98 loss to the Atlanta Hawks with a hip contusion was further proof. As it turns out, it is significantly harder to win basketball games without an MVP candidate propping up a roster utterly decimated by injuries.

AD joined Jrue Holiday, Norris Cole, Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter in the suit-wearing rotation crew.

New Orleans' lack of healthy bodies has officially reached joke status, as Bourbon Street Shots' Mason Ginsberg illustrated:

The Pellies competed, but any night in which Ish Smith and Alonzo Gee both play more than 30 minutes is going to be a rough one—especially when the Hawks get 19 points and 16 rebounds from Paul Millsap to complement 26 points and eight rebounds from Al Horford.

Now sitting at 1-7 on the year, it's officially time for the Pelicans to reassess what their goals should be for this season. I'm not saying they should tank to find Davis a suitable running mate in the high lottery, but I'm also not not saying that.

The Nets Are on the Board

The Brooklyn Nets left the Sixers all alone among the ranks of the winless, securing a surprising 106-98 road victory against the Houston Rockets. It was Brooklyn's first of the year.

Toss this result in there with those three straight 20-point losses to open the season and you've got a certifiably shaky Rockets resume. Still, James Harden and Dwight Howard both played well, combining for 43 points, 26 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks. As long as they're healthy, it'll be tough to get too serious about panicking.

But this is not a sequence you'd readily associate with a functional contender:

For now, let's just credit the Nets and Bojan Bogdanovic, who hit some key late shots to secure the win. There may not be many more of these this season, so it's best to savor this one.

Stephen Curry Makes Recaps Impossible

I was all set to feature an Andrew Bogut step-back 19-footer as evidence that absolutely everything, no matter how seemingly ridiculous or improbable, keeps going right for the Golden State Warriors this season. But then Stephen Curry had to go and hit a pair of positively absurd heaves in the third quarter of the Dubs' ho-hum, oh-so-predictable 100-84 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Like, what do you even say about those? Curry's not normal. He scored 17 in the third quarter and finished with 28 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals.

With the win, the Warriors moved to 9-0, matching the best start in franchise history. They have yet to be challenged this season, which might be why Curry keeps hoisting up seemingly impossible shots.

Clearly, he's bored.

Some Reunions Are Better Than Others

LaMarcus Aldridge's first return visit to the Moda Center wasn't exactly like Jordan's in Dallas—and that's not just because Aldridge emerged victorious, scoring a team-high 23 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 113-101 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

And it's not because Aldridge put in years with the Blazers, while Jordan never even officially played for the Mavs.

The key difference was the tenor of the reception. Aldridge's was better—let's say roughly a 60-40 split between cheers and boos.

Nice work, Portland. For this reason and many others, I would rather live there than in Dallas.

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