Los Angeles, CA -- Blake Griffin's 26 points and 10 rebounds help lead the Clippers past the Mavericks in their first meeting since DeAndre Jordan chose the Clippers in free agency over the Mavs.

DeAndre Jordan's first home game as a Clipper oddly could have been his first game back in Staples as a Maverick. Jordan made a huge decision to not go to Dallas this summer, and instead go back to Los Angeles after some convincing from his teammates and coach, Doc Rivers.

"It's definitely an emotional game," said Jordan, who declined to address the Dallas debacle directly. "The emotions were high obviously because it was our home opener. We wanted to give the fans what they missed."

"We didn't look at it that way, but obviously there's got to be something there from all the (offseason) stuff," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.

There's clearly thoughts going that way, but nobody really addressed the situation except Dirk. Dirk was a big supporter in Jordan coming.

"I think we were disappointed, but we still have to move on as a franchise, and that's what we did," Nowitzki said. "That happens in free agency sometimes."

The Mavericks struggled, and struggled to score. They missed new acquisition Wesley Matthews, and had already lost Monta Ellis.

"The (lack of) manpower made it tougher," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We really would have had to play a perfect game. I thought we did a lot of things well, but in the end, from a shooting standpoint, we couldn't hit a bull in the (rear) with a bass fiddle."

The Clippers looked solid, as they should in this one. Chris Paul posted 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists. Blake Griffin had 26 points and 10 boards, and Deandre Jordan had 6 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

John Jenkins got the nod to start for the Mavs, and he did not dissapoint. He was a bright spot, scoring 17 points on 8-16 shooting. Dirk had 16 points and 7 rebounds, and J.J. Barea and Devin Harris both had 12.

The Mavericks look doomed until Wesley Matthews comes back, if even he can help the team. They regressed really far compared to last season, and didn't show much improvement in the offseason. Rookie Justin Anderson had 5 points and 6 rebounds. Deron Williams did not play, and should help the team when he's healthy, but realistically how long will that be? How deep will this hole be when they actually come back? These are some of the many questions surrounding this Dallas Mavericks team that yours truly doesn't know. The Mavericks are in a rut and it may be a while until they're out.

The Mavericks are at the Lakers on Sunday, while the Clippers host the Kings on Saturday.