These Mavericks continue to grow teeth, even when they lose them.
With Dennis Smith short a chopper after a wayward elbow, he recovered nicely to swat away a shot by the Los Angeles Clippers' Tobias Harris, grab the rebound and sink two clinching free throws with 9.2 seconds left in the Mavericks' 114-110 victory over the Western Conference-leading Clips.
Smith's triumphant return after L.A.'s Patrick Beverley had busted out one of Smith's front teeth came on the same night DeAndre Jordan rolled up a huge game against the team for whom he played 10 seasons and the Mavericks proved they can also survive without their prized rookie and leading scorer Luka Doncic.