Mavs mysteriously lost another game Leonard didn’t play

The Dallas Mavericks are bemoaning the fact that the Los Angeles Clippers have been winning games in this best-of-seven first-round playoff series without having the services of All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard.

It’s a dilemma that is mysterious to the Mavs.

Leonard is clearly the Clippers’ best player, and he missed Games 1 and 4 while dealing with inflammation in his right knee. However, not having Leonard has been a perfect recipe for the Clippers, because they won both games that he didn’t play in, and ultimately lost Games 2 and 3 when they had his services.

Doing the math, if the Mavs had just taken care of business and won the games Leonard didn’t play in – plus the games they won when he did play – this series would already be over.

“When Kawhi is out, we’ve got to be better,” coach Jason Kidd said. “For whatever reason we tend to relax (when Leonard doesn’t play). So, we’ve got to address that, too.”

The Mavs dropped Game 4 on Sunday, 116-111, at American Airlines Center and now this series is tied at 2-2 with Game 5 slated for Wednesday in Los Angeles before the series shifts back to AAC on Friday for Game 6.

From a schematic standpoint, Mavs guard Kyrie Irving said the Clippers have a different flow when Leonard is not on the court.

“When Kawhi is not in the lineup, you can see they are different players to a certain degree,” Irving said. “I don’t want to disrespect their talent, but I think (they) play with a little bit more liberation (and) they take a lot more tough shots.

“When Kawhi is out there, I think they’re looking to be efficient and get each other going a little bit more. For the second game where Kawhi isn’t playing, we came out and I don’t think we were prepared for some of the shots they were taking.”

Despite his team’s success in this series without Leonard, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said he feels for Leonard, because of his inability to play at this critical stage of the season.

“It’s definitely devastating for Kawhi,” Lue said. “All the work he’s put in this year, the amount of games he’s played and he’s worked hard to get to this point to a place he wants to be in the playoffs.

“And then to be hurt and not be able to be 100 percent and play the way he’s capable of playing, it’s very frustrating for him and I feel bad for him. But we’ve played without Kawhi before.”

The Clippers are now 8-7 this season without Leonard, including huge regular season wins over Cleveland, Denver and Phoenix, in addition to the two pivotal puzzling victories in this series against the Mavs.

So, what changes for the Clippers whenever Leonard is sidelined?

“They play faster and also that gives Paul George and those guys the green light,” Kidd said. “That’s one less pass they’ve got to make and one more attempt they get.

“You give Paul George those type of looks early, he’s one of the best in the league. So, you’ve got your hands full if you’re going to let him get off threes and he starts to make them.”

With no Leonard to defer to, George was 6-of-9 from the field – he was 3-of-5 from downtown – in the first quarter when he scored the same amount of points as the Mavs (16). He finished with 33 points on 11-19 shots, including 7-of-10 three pointers.

And it was a huge bucket from downtown by George which gave LA a 107-105 lead with 1:55 remaining in the game.

“You’ve got to be able to make him put the ball on the floor,” Kidd said, referring to George. “But this is the game of basketball.

“They’re not just going to let you do what you want. That’s why he’s so good.”

Since the Clippers are 2-0 without Leonard in this series, and 0-2 with him, it’ll be interesting to see how they handle his playing status going forward.

“Any time you insert your best player back into the lineup, we played three weeks without him, so we had to change the way we play and the style of play,” Lue said. “And then just trying to incorporate him and get him back the best way we could.

“When you can get your best player back you want him back no matter what the circumstances are.”

IRVING CRANKED IT UP: After going scoreless in the first quarter on 0-of-3 shots, Mavs guard Kyrie Irving cranked things up over the final three quarters.

Irving went 5-of-5 from the field – and made all three of his three-pointers – while scoring 16 points in the second quarter. He added another 10 points in the third quarter and 14 more in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 40 points.

“If he didn’t get going, that game would have been over in the first (quarter),” coach Jason Kidd said. “For him to be able to get going in the second (quarter), that got us back.

“We just talked about if we could get it within 15 (points) there going before halftime — and we got it to 17 (66-49).”

For the game, Irving was 14-of-25 from the field, and also converted half of his 12 attempts from downtown. In addition, it was Irving’s three-pointer and driving basket with 2:14 left that gave the Mavs their last lead of the game at 105-104.

Unfortunately, the Clippers ended the game on a 12-6 run and have now re-captured homecourt advantage in this series.

“We had to play perfect in that fourth and we just didn’t come up with the key rebound,” Kidd said. “We have to be better rebounding the ball.”

LUE WON RING WITH KYRIE IN CLEVELAND: Clippers coach Tyronn Lue knows Mavs guard Kyrie Irving very well from their days together with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lue was coach of the Cavs – and Irving was the star guard – when Cleveland won the 2016 NBA title. Almost eight years have passed since that memorable occasion for the Cavs, and Lue said:

“I think Kyrie has done a good job of just maturing of understanding of letting the game come to him,” Lue said. “In that first half two days ago he had two points at halftime, and then coming out (in the second half) and understanding and picking and choosing his spots when he needs to be aggressive and when he needs to score the basketball and having 19 points in the second half.

“You can just kind of see him letting the game come to him, letting the game develop and not forcing anything and just being there when they need him, so he’s been terrific.

Irving followed a similar blueprint in Game 4 when he was scoreless in the first quarter, but finished with a game-high 40 points.

WESTBROOK’S INTENSITY: Before Game 4 tipped off, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue talked about the intensity guard Russell Westbook brings to the court every game.

Clippers guard Russell Westbrook was ejected from Game 3 after he was assessed two technical fouls when he first aggressively spun point guard Luka Dončić. Then, he pushed Dončić, pushed Maxi Kleber and pushed P.J. Washington, who also was ejected from the game.

Earlier, Westbrook was charged with a Flagrant Foul, Penalty 1 when he popped Josh Green in the head while the latter was in the air and on the verge of dunking the ball. But, Lue said Westbrook is in a good place.

“His intensity is great,” Lue said of Westbrook. “He’s not going to stand and tolerate just a lot of – I can’t curse. Russ is Russ and he brings it every single night and that’s how he plays.

“That’s the aggression that we need and the passion that we need. We just got to make sure we take it and do it in the right direction. Russ is Russ and we need that fire, and we need that passion.”

BRIEFLY: In determining how the game was being called by the three referees, coach Jason Kidd said: “The referees called it tight early and then let it go back to what it has been. They tried to take control of the game early and set the tone. Fouls were across the board – everybody was fouling.” Mavs point guard Luka Dončić had two fouls at the 9:37 mark of the first quarter. Teammate Derrick Jones Jr. picked up a pair of fouls less than six minutes into the game. And three Clippers – James Harden, Ivica Zubac and Mason Plumlee – each had two fouls before the first quarter ended. Overall, the Clippers were whistled for 27 fouls and the Mavs were charged with 21 fouls, including five by Dončić – he also received a technical foul – and four each by Kyrie Irving and Jones. “We’ve got to be better,” Kidd said. “Our guys got in foul trouble a little bit. We’ve got to learn how to play with foul trouble.”. .Both of the games in this series that the Mavs won were night games. And both of the games they lost tipped off at 2:30 p.m. CT.  “Early game, for whatever reason we just haven’t played well,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We gotten off to slow starts. We played better in the second half. That’s something we’ve got to talk about as a team. If there’s another afternoon game we just got to make sure that we’re ready to go.”. .The Clippers tied a franchise playoff record for most three-pointers converted in a half with the 14  they made in the first half of Sunday’s game. They also made 14 baskets from downtown in a playoff game against Utah on June 18, 2021. Overall, the Clippers were 18-of-29 from three-point range. In Game 1 of this series, they were 18-of-36 from downtown. . .Rapper Bad Bunny sat courtside during Game 4.

X: @DwainPrice