DALLAS, TEXAS — The Mavericks won the “rubber match” defeating the Clippers 105-89 to improve their record to 21-18. Dallas put aside their loss to the Clippers on Monday and took care of business and displayed their potential on the defensive end.
It was a back and forth start to begin the game. For the Mavericks offensively it was a lateral start to the game again being outscored in the first quarter by the opposing team. Dallas shot 45% from the field, knocking three of their three point attempts with two coming at the start of the first quarter, and continued their struggles from the perimeter. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis carried the load for the Mavericks scoring wise and combined to convert on 70% of their shots from the field with three of their shots coming from beyond the arc as well. In spite of the amazing first quarter Luka and KP had, their performances didn’t stop the Clippers from taking a lead.
Los Angeles converted on 55% of their shots in the first half coming off a nice first quarter from Paul George who scored 11 points, Marcus Morris Sr who scored 6 points, Kawhi Leonard with 4 points and Marcus Morris Sr with 4 points as well. Lou Williams and Ivan Zubac converted on all three of their shot attempts with 1 shot coming from beyond the arc.
The lead wasn’t insurmountable and the Mavericks had some rhythm in the first quarter offensively which evolved into what they accomplished in the second quarter.
The game was completely flipped upside down and the Mavericks outperformed the Clippers from the field. Dallas converted on 55% of their shots and knocked down 5 shots from the perimeter. Like the first quarter, Luka Doncic continued to shine and scored 10 points increasing his scoring total to 20 points in the first half. Josh Richardson had a stellar second quarter as well scoring 8 of his 12 points and scored on all 3 of his shot attempts from the field knocking down two three pointers in the process and Tim Hardaway Jr scored 7 points on 3 out of 4 of his shot attempts.
Dallas bounced back after trailing the Clippers in the first quarter and finished the half leading the Clippers 56-51. The Mavericks played well in the first half despite their first quarter troubles against the Clippers who took advantage of the Mavericks lackluster first quarter performance in their loss on Monday. There is no doubt that familiarity played a part in the Mavericks play and they knew that they couldn’t allow the Clippers to set the tone and take a lead early.
The Mavericks approach entering the third quarter was all about applying pressure and not letting up after the half. On the offensive end the Mavericks had a just below average, but where they made it count was on the defensive end. Dallas held the Clippers to a 38% shooting percentage from the field which was the second time of the night the Clippers converted on less than 40% of their shots from the field. The Mavericks thrived in moving the ball around to find the open shot and made sure to get back on missed shot attempts to stop the Clippers from finding a way to score in transition which led to the Mavericks finishing the third quarter with a 77-71 lead. Luka Doncic was trending towards an historical night scoring 31 points through quarters and tallied up 6 assists which began his hot streak leading into the fourth quarter.
Doncic couldn’t be stopped scoring 7 of the Mavericks opening fourth quarter points adding to his point total and the Mavericks double digit lead. After struggling in the first three quarters Jalen Brunson contributed by scoring 2 points on 2 out of 4 shots from the field and Maxi Kleber came on late knocking down a three pointer late in the fourth quarter and followed up with alley oop one handed slam off a Doncic assist to increase their lead to 15 points. Luka Doncic notched his fourth 40 point performance of the season and helped his team defeat the Clippers to close out the regular season series.
The Mavericks closed out what some would say in a western conference rival after the battle in the bubble between the two teams. All in all it was a solid win and one the Mavericks can use to continue a promising two month stretch of basketball, albeit playing mostly road games to finish out the month of March.
In the next three games Dallas will hit the road for the next three games to play in Portland to finish their regular season series against the Trailblazers and then will travel to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves.
