The Mavericks beat the Rockets in OT while the Clippers rout Grizzlies

Things have officially gone wild in the Wild Wild West.

Over the past five seasons, at least one team with a winning record has failed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference as the competition has always been fierce and close until the final day of the season.

It may never have been this close, however.

Currently, 1 1/2 games separate the fourth seed and the ninth seed.

Two teams — the Clippers and the Mavericks — are tied for the fourth seed while three teams — Memphis, Utah and Denver — are just one game behind and tied for the sixth seed with tie-breakers sure to come into play.

That leaves the Rockets in the ninth spot and outside looking in with a record of 26-23 after their latest loss at home. If the playoffs started today, it would mark the third consecutive season they would miss the playoffs as the ninth seed with a winning record.

Had the Rockets defeated Dallas on Saturday night, the Mavericks would have fallen to the ninth spot.

So playoff intensity filled the air as the two teams met at the Toyota Center in a game that went into overtime with 17 lead changes, 15 ties, and four stitches above the right eye of Dirk Nowitzki.

In the end, the reigning NBA champions came out on top after suffering consecutive losses to the Lakers and the Spurs without their best defender, Shawn Marion, who returned from a three-game absence.

From Dwain Price of Star-Telegram: “Rick Carlisle didn’t mind expressing his thoughts about Saturday’s 101-99 overtime win over the Houston Rockets. “It was the biggest win of the year for us,’’ the Dallas Mavericks coach said. “It really was. “We were fighting back all night — until the end of regulation. They made a couple of plays, and we made a couple of plays.’’ In the end, the Mavs made more clutch plays than the Rockets. And that’s why the Mavs (28-22) are in the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference standings, while the Rockets (26-23) are in the No. 9 spot and would be out of the playoffs if they started today… “We knew [about the playoff slippage] a long time ago,’’ said Dirk Nowitzki, who tallied 31 points. “Especially coming out of that nine games in 12 days [stretch] and how many spots we slipped down in the standings. “We definitely knew then it was going to be on for the rest of the season. If that means we’ve got to scrap like we did tonight and grind those wins out, then that’s what we’ve got to do.’’ Thanks to eight points in the fourth quarter by Jason Terry — he also scored six of the Mavs’ 10 points in overtime — Dallas was able to get out of town with a much-needed victory.”

The Rockets had plenty of chances to win the game as they outrebounded the Mavericks 52-38, but shot just 38.5% from the field and missed 16 of 25 3-point attempts. Moving forward, they must continue to play without Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin due to injuries.

From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “The Rockets lamented the missed final shot only as a reminder of how close they came. It was a good look, the one they wanted. But Chase Budinger never seemed quite right on it. The timing was thrown off when Shawn Marion slapped away Goran Dragic’s initial attempt to get the ball to Budinger in the corner. Dragic was still able to shove the ball out to Budinger as he had planned all along, but Budinger’s 3 fell short and so did the Rockets, not only dropping a painful 101-99 overtime loss to the Mavericks, but out of the top eight of the Western Conference… Next week is brutally tough. After the Rockets host the Kings – who are playing better lately on Monday – they face Dallas again in the second half of a back-to-back, with the Mavericks off until then. They come home for Memphis and Indiana before playing in Chicago in the second-half of another back-to-back, then head to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.”

Another team facing adversity and drama, the Clippers finally clicked on all cylinders to rout the Grizzlies and silence the conflict surrounding Vinny Del Negro, at least for one more game.

From Baxter Holmes of Los Angeles Times: “With Coach Vinny Del Negro’s seat hot enough to fry an egg and amid speculation about a fractured locker room, the Clippers also went out and played a rare complete game, crushing Memphis, 101-85, in front of 19,060 at Staples Center. In the first of a five-game homestand, the Clippers (27-21) moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference, three games behind the Lakers. The win was a much-needed tourniquet after an 0-3 trip, the Clippers’ longest losing streak this season. “I almost forgot what it feels like after you lose like we’ve been losing,” said Chris Paul, who had 19 points and 13 assists. The victory might even help some forget the calls for Del Negro to be fired. “We’re all behind him,” said Griffin, who scored a game-high 20 points and had 10 rebounds and five assists. “We’ve got to keep it that way.” Randy Foye scored 18 points and Nick Young had 16 off the bench in place of Mo Williams, who is expected to miss several games because of an injured left big toe.”

Elsewhere…

Luol Deng’s put-back just before the buzzer helped Chicago defeat the fiesty Raptors in overtime 102-101. With the win, the Bulls improved to a league-best 40-10 and became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. Carlos Boozer led the charge with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Deng and C.J. Watson — filling in once again for Derrick Rose — added 23 points apiece. Toronto had a chance to build a three-point lead, but Gary Forbes missed consecutive free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining in the game.
Despite another poor shooting night from Carmelo Anthony and a sloppy overall play with 22 turnovers, the Knicks were able to shut down a sluggish Pistons team en route to a 101-79 victory. Tyson Chandler had 15 points and 17 rebounds while Amar’e Stoudemire had 17 points and eight rebounds before heading back to the locker room in the third quarter due to a sore lower back. New York remained in the eighth seed and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee.
A day after blowing a 22-point lead, Washington did it again as the Hawks rallied to defeat the Wizards 95-92 behind Joe Johnson, who scored nine points in the fourth quarter to help erase a 16 point deficit. Josh Smith led the team with 20 points and nine rebounds while Johnson added 16 points. Atlanta is tied with Indiana for the fifth spot in the standings.
A day after Jason Smith’s suspension, San Antonio squeaked past the Hornets 89-86 and remained three games behind the Thunder for the best record in the Western Conference. DeJuan Blair led the Spurs with 23 points and every starter except Tony Parker — who had 12 points and 10 assists — had seven rebounds. Jarret Jack had a stellar 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the losing effort.
A night after a difficult loss against the Suns, the Pacers easily won on the road against the Bucks 125-104. Both teams were playing their third game in three nights, but George Hill — ineffective over the past two games — came in ready and scored a game-high 24 points off the bench. Indiana remains two games behind Orlando for the third seed.
In a matchup between two brutally bad teams, the Nets came out on top against league-worst Charlotte 102-89. Kris Humphries led five starters in double figures with 20 points and 16 rebounds while Deron Williams had 19 points and 14 assists to help snap a five-game losing streak. The Bobcats are now 7-39 for a winning percentage of .152.
Rookie Klay Thompson scored a career high 31 points to lead the Warriors past the “rival” Kings 111-108 to win the season series 3-1. David Lee narrowly missed a triple-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine rebounds and gave up a key possession with a late 5-second violation. Down by one, rookie Isaiah Thomas one-upped Lee’s effort by dribbling the ball off his own leg. Both teams are at the bottom of their division.

James Park is a regular contributor to Sheridanhoops.com. Follow him on twitter.