DALLAS, TEXAS — It was another up and down performance for the Mavericks coming home only to lose to the Clippers 109-99. It was the first double digit loss the Mavericks have suffered in three weeks and the first one they have suffered at home since a month ago. In losses and in wins, one familiar item has dictated the overall outcome of games in some form, and that’s how the Mavericks started the first quarter.
Dallas suffered from another “disjointed” first quarter and the Clippers used Dallas’s shortcomings to develop a lead. The Mavericks have started the majority of their games this season slow and experience and record determines that Dallas struggles when they play catch up and have a poorer shooting performance than the opposing team. The Clippers were able to grab an early double digit lead that was as large as 14 points at one point.
Rick Carlisle got in his bag and inserted Jalen Brunson, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Willie Cauley-Stein into the game which proved to be the right call. The trio scored 5 out of 6 of Dallas’s final shots before time expired in the first quarter. Brunson finished the first quarter leading the Mavericks in scoring with 8 points and Luka led the Mavericks in the assists department finishing with 4 and the Mavericks cut the double digit deficit to 8 points.
Dallas found a way to recover from the poor first quarter and set the tone for their offensive approach going into the second quarter.
The Mavericks outperformed the Clippers from the field in the second quarter knocking down 57% of their shots with 3 of those shots coming from beyond the arc. Luka Doncic was a magician with the ball and set his team up for the easy shots and finished the first half with 9 assists and found success from the three point line knocking two shots from the perimeter to start the second quarter, Josh Richardson knocked down all three of his field goal attempts from the field picking up some of the slack on offense, and Dorian Finney-Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr combined to score on 3 out of their 5 shot attempts. It was a collective effort and the Mavericks managed to fully recover from their once double digit hole and eventually take the lead with minutes remaining, which turned out to be a short lived sigh of relief.
The Mavericks offense sputtered in the final two minutes of the second quarter and the Clippers found a way to sneak back in and take a 5 point 55-50 lead going into halftime.
Dallas began the third quarter in explosive fashion after Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis connected on an alley oop. The Mavericks had another efficient performance from the field in the third quarter knocking down 50% of their shots in comparison to the Clippers 46%, but the Mavericks allowed the Clippers to separate in small spurts and made it difficult to regain their footing and make a meaningful run. Tim Hardaway Jr made his presence felt off the bench for another time this season as he scored on all 3 three point shot attempts and Kristaps Porzingis came through in a major way for the Mavericks on the offensive end converting on 5 out of 7 of his shots from the field with 3 of his shots coming from beyond the arc as well, but the Clippers still found a way to finish the third quarter leading the Mavericks 85-78.
The Clippers continued to roll the Mavericks heading into the fourth quarter with their first points coming by way of a Lou Williams three pointer and a Zubac dunk increasing the Clippers lead back to double digits. The Mavericks faced a double digit lead until late in the fourth quarter after finding a spark offensively after Kristaps Porzingis dropped a 29 foot three pointer and followed up with a jumper to cut the Clippers lead in half. Dallas got within 4 points with seconds remaining after Tim Hardaway Jr hit another three pointer to increase his point total to 21 points on the night and helped Luka Doncic notch his 16th assist, which would turnout to be Dallas’s final points scored in the game. The Clippers held on to their lead and finished the Mavericks to secure their first win of the regular season series.
Dallas was within reach the entire game, but the story was how poorly the first quarter started which has become a running issue with this team. The disjointment as Rick Carlisle describes it has affected the outcome of many games this season and will be something they will need to correct to compete in the Western conference that features a bevy of explosive offensive teams.
