Disillusioned guard Dennis Smith Jr., returning from a six-game absence, scored 17 points and grabbed a season-best eight rebounds to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 106-98 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.

Smith missed three games with a sore back and an illness before leaving the team for another three games, upset over his role playing alongside rookie sensation Luka Doncic. Amid trade rumors, Smith stayed away from the club as it lost four of the six games.

The explosive guard's return provided a burst of offense that Dallas needed in snapping a four-game losing skid. Two of Smith's four assists went to former Clippers center DeAndre Jordan during a key stretch late in the fourth quarter, one a sweet tip pass inside and another for an alley-oop dunk to give the Mavs a 99-93 lead with two minutes to go.

In a back-and-forth game, Dallas produced the 19th and final lead change to claim a 92-91 edge that expanded to 104-95 on a Harrison Barnes 3-pointer with 53.2 seconds to go. The win was the first in eight tries for the Mavs on the second night of a back-to-back set. It was the first time the second game was at home, where Dallas improved to 17-6.

Barnes led Dallas with 20 points, and Jordan put up 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Doncic, coming off his first triple-double Monday at Milwaukee, finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Clippers, losers of six of seven and again playing without top 3-point shooter Danilo Gallinari due to lower back spasms, shot just 36.3 percent from the floor and missed 15 consecutive shots to close out the third quarter.

Los Angeles did get sixth man Lou Williams back, but he struggled to get to 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting, missing five of his six 3-point attempts.

Patrick Beverley paced the Clippers with 16 points, Avery Bradley had 15 and Montrezl Harrell finished with 11.

--Field Level Media