Depending on your perspective, there are so many ways to look at Sunday’s Game 4 of the Mavericks’ first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
You might say that the Mavericks got waylaid by a Clippers’ haymaker and simply made a cosmetic comeback that eventually caused them to run out of gas when they finally got in position to win the game late.
Or, another way to look at it is that the Clippers had a masterful shooting night (18-of-29, 62 percent from three-point range) and that there is no chance of them duplicating that kind of rare shooting night going forward. It’s the same thing that happened to the Boston Celtics when Miami made everything it tossed in the air in Game 2 of that series.
Or yet another point of view is that this simply is a war of attrition.
Kawhi Leonard is out, possibly for the rest of the series, given the way LA coach Tyronn Lue talked about the situation. Luka Dončić is traipsing around the court on one leg. Tim Hardaway Jr. has been out with an ankle.
Whatever theory you subscribe to, it’s become a best-of-three series that returns to LA on Wednesday night (9 p.m., Dallas time). And now it’s more about toughness and perseverance than anything else.
“We’re in a series,” Kyrie Irving said. “We’re fully aware of who we’re going against now. We know each other extremely well. We know each other’s plays. I think you’re going to see a high-level chess match in Game 5 in LA.
“I’m not thinking about stealing a game. I’m thinking about winning a game and finishing out the series.”
Somebody will go up 3-2 on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena. Whoever does takes charge in the series as the team that wins Game 5 in a series knotted at 2 advances to the next round 81.7 percent of the time (188-42).
Of course, the Mavericks need only look back three years ago for proof that Game 5 success guarantees nothing.
They went up 3-2 in the 2021 first round against the Clippers with a Game 5 win at what was then Staples Center. They proceeded to lose Game 6 in Dallas and Game 7 in LA.
But the Mavericks probably figured they would have to win twice on the Clippers’ floor if they were going to get to the conference semifinals. And that’s become the case.
What happened on Sunday was more about the Clippers playing with more desperation than the Mavericks. Paul George came out firing, as did James Harden. And the Mavericks didn’t do enough to stop them.
“When I see PG take a head-fake three and step back, and it goes all-net, he’s having a heck of a night,” Irving said. “When he starts out that way, you kind of have to cool him down and I don’t think we did that.”
The Mavericks will have two days to think about ways to do so in Game 5.
Here’s our other takeaways from the 116-111 loss in Game 4.
Forgettable defense: While the Clippers did enjoy some remarkable shot-making, they also benefited from a Mavericks’ defense that seemed to be a half-step slow. And when the game was on the line, the paint became more like a buffet line for Harden, who sliced into the gut of the Mavericks’ defense and made a handful of floaters and the like. They were relatively easy shots for someone of his abilities. The Clippers shot 53.8 percent for the game and were even better from beyond the arc (62 percent, 18-of-29). Coach Jason Kidd discussed the pick-your-poison type of strategy the Mavericks have to employ with the Clippers. “We had to keep them off the three and they made 14 in the first half,” he said. “We talked about it at halftime and we did a better job. They made four in the second half. Our defense in that first quarter was not up to par. It was kind of like Game 1 all over again, having a bad quarter. Looking at the start, we just have to be better. Contested threes are one thing, but when you give these guys warm-up threes, you can put yourself in a bad position and that’s what happened early.”
Luka’s life: It was clear to everybody, including the Clippers, that Dončić wasn’t normal. He’s been a good defender this season, but LA quickly started trying to get the Mavericks’ superstar in the pick-and-roll and force him to move laterally. It was a smart move on LA coach Ty Lue’s part. “He did everything he could,” Kidd said of Luka. “I thought he competed on both ends. He put us in position. We take the lead there in the fourth. We just came up short. I thought he did a really good job on both ends.” However, Dončić’s shooting continues to lag. He made just 4-of-23 three-pointers in Games 3 and 4. He suffered the right knee problem early in Game 3.
Shot of the game: Sometimes, a player like Derrick Jones Jr. plays great defense. Sometimes, an opponent has offense that’s just a little greater. George was hemmed in the corner by Jones with the clock drifting under 2 minutes left. The Mavericks had just taken their first lead since the early moments of the game at 105-104. Allow Jones to explain the play: “Tough shot. He got the ball in the corner. I tried to jam him in the corner so he couldn’t get it up. He made a move. Stepped back, went back to the corner. I tried to contest it. It was a good shot. Ain’t much to say about it.” Was Jones surprised the high-degree-of-difficulty shot went in? “On me, hell yeah I’m surprised,” he said. “I played great defense. But he hit a tough shot. You got to tip your hat and I’ll see him back in LA.”
X: @ESefko
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