Clippers Fail to Rock Vote in Loss to Aspiring Young Mavericks : Pro basketball: Potential all-stars Mashburn (25 points) and Kidd (21) key 98-93 victory as Clippers collapse.

The Dallas Mavericks are trying to get out the vote for the “J Ticket”--forward Jamal Mashburn and guards Jason Kidd and Jimmy Jackson--in the balloting for the NBA All-Star game.

Kidd and Mashburn played like all-stars in the Mavericks’ 98-93 victory over the Clippers Wednesday night before 14,957 at Reunion Arena.

Kidd, the second pick in the 1994 NBA draft, scored a career-high 21 points and had 12 assists. Kidd, who has shot only 33.8% this season, made seven of 12 shots.

“That was a ghost out there shooting,” Kidd said. “It was really just a confidence thing. Right now I have a lot of confidence in my shot. Once you start making a couple, it feels good inside and you don’t want to go back to the way it was.

“The old way was not even looking to shoot and passing up open shots. But I’ve heard from my teammates all year that if I don’t shoot the ball, then I’m not helping them.”

Mashburn, currently second in all-star balloting for the Western Conference team behind Seattle forward Shawn Kemp, had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Clippers did a good job of containing Jackson, who had 31 points in the Mavericks’ 19-point victory over the Clippers last month at Anaheim. Jackson scored 19 points, but missed 16 of 23 shots.

Kidd took control in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points as Dallas outscored the Clippers, 9-4, in the final 3:42.

With the Mavericks leading, 92-89, after Clipper forward Tony Massenburg made two free throws with 1:18 left, Kidd made four consecutive free throws to put the game away.

The Clippers, who shot 27% (six of 22) in the final quarter, collapsed in the stretch, making poor decisions and taking bad shots.

“I’ve got a pinched nerve that has been driving me nuts,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “I couldn’t sleep if they’d let me sleep, but that’s the least of my worries.

“Shot selection tonight was horrible and our board work was spotty. The only thing I can say is that everybody got a chance to contribute to it. Some of the decisions we made were very costly.”

The Clippers struggled mightily down the stretch, getting only one field goal in the final 4:11 while losing their third consecutive game.

Clipper forward Loy Vaught, who had 20 points and seven rebounds, missed six of nine shots in the fourth quarter and guard Malik Sealy missed three of five shots in the quarter.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Vaught said. “We’ve made some strides and we compete and work hard and never give up, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

Sealy agreed.

“I think sometimes we don’t realize that we’re in the game and we have an opportunity to win and we get a little anxious,” Sealy said. “That comes with maturity. We as a team need to find that one guy who can basically take control of the game when it comes down to it.

“I would hope it gets aggravating for everybody. It’s already aggravating for me. We have guys who are in their first year in the league and the feeling of winning hasn’t been injected into their veins. It’s tough.”

Sealy, who missed three consecutive games because of a sprained left ankle, had 17 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes as a reserve. Terry Dehere, who replaced Sealy in the starting lineup, had two points in 18 minutes.

“Sealy didn’t look too rusty,” Fitch said. “He made a couple of nice jump shots, which is what I thought he was missing this week (in practice). He hadn’t been getting much lift off that foot.”

Said Sealy: “I felt pretty good. I was just hoping that nobody would hit it. It’s still a little bit sore, but not enough to really hinder my movement.”

Clipper Notes

Maverick center Popeye Jones, who averaged a team-high 10.6 rebounds in his first 29 games, sat out the game because of back spasms. . . . Center Eric Riley, averaging only 6.6 minutes per game since signing with the Clippers last month, had seven points and four rebounds in 13 minutes.