Mavericks, Clippers move to second round

Now Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have a long layover before the semifinals begin.

Considering that their first-round opponent was the Memphis Grizzlies, they should’ve expected as much.

“We didn’t want to drag the series out and let the momentum change and then the next thing you know you’re 3-3, so we wanted to get this out of the way,” Nowitzki said after the Mavericks’ 102-76 victory Monday over the Grizzlies in Memphis, Tenn., in Game 4 of their playoff series.

Nowitzki didn’t have much to worry about.

Except for a push in Game 3 that went into overtime Saturday, Memphis fell easily, giving the Mavericks their first best-of-7 sweep and the Grizzlies an NBA-record 12th straight playoff loss.

In the Western Conference semifinals, Dallas will face the winner of the San Antonio-Sacramento series, which is tied at two games apiece. The Spurs-Kings series would end Sunday if it goes seven games.

“We have some guys banged up and we’ll get some rest. But we can’t relax too much,” Nowitzki said. “We’ve still got to get some work done this week, work on some defense location stuff that we messed up this week and just, you know, stay sharp.”

Clippers 101, Nuggets 83: At Los Angeles, the Clippers’ 30-year drought is finally over.

Cuttino Mobley and Corey Maggette each scored 23 points, Elton Brand added 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the Clippers took command in the third quarter to beat Denver and win the first-round best-of-7 Western Conference series 4-1.

Mobley pumped his fists repeatedly in the final minute, and his teammates waved at the Staples Center fans, who stood and cheered as the final seconds ticked off.

The Clippers hadn’t won a playoff series since 1976, when the team was playing in Buffalo and beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening round before losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Pistons 109, Bucks 99: At Milwaukee, Chauncey Billups was 16 of 16 from the foul line and scored 34 points to send the Pistons back to Detroit with a 3-1 series lead after a win over Milwaukee in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The Pistons can finish off the Bucks with a victory in Game 5 Wednesday night in Detroit.

The Bucks had taken an 86-85 lead on Joe Smith’s jump shot with 5:52 remaining in the game. But the Pistons answered with an 8-0 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Billups and Richard Hamilton, to put Detroit ahead 93-86 with 3:47 remaining.

Michael Redd led the Bucks with 33 points.

Diaw most improved

Boris Diaw went from being a throw-in as part of the Joe Johnson trade to winner of the NBA’s most improved player award.

The Phoenix Suns’ versatile Frenchman was a landslide choice with 80 first-place votes in balloting by 124 sports writers and sportscasters. He received 489 overall points, compared with 22 first-place votes and 283 points for runner-up David West of New Orleans.