Well, that was…something. Paul George started the scoring with a 19 foot step back jumper to give the home team Clippers a 2-0 lead. That was enough, apparently, to upset the Mavericks who proceeded to go an on 134-2 tear from that point forward. No, I kid, but it felt like that type of run for the Mavericks who led after one quarter 36-13. Their biggest lead in the game was a staggering 57 points. Sure, the Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard, but there was no reason to not play with energy. This was an embarrassing loss in every way possible. Every NBA team has a bad loss coming in the regular season, the Championship contenders limited games like this one in the regular season. The Clippers want us all to believe they are Championship contenders; lets hope this was an aberration and just the team getting their bad loss out of the way early.
Star of the game
For the Clippers, no one. Not one single player had a +/- above 0. This was a debacle with no stars for the losing side.
Biggest Concern
Any time you lose a game like this you fear what might creep into the psyche of your team. “Maybe we aren’t as good as we thought”, “Why didn’t my teammates try harder”, etc. Thoughts like this are the type of things than can creep into a mindset and fester. They can be the start of the demise of a promising season. This loss was an aberration until the Clippers play shows us otherwise, but for now there is a concern about the mental toll this might take on them. Coming off a less than ideal time in the NBA playoff bubble last season where many questioned their mental toughness, this is a very real concern. The Clippers next game is on Tuesday, December 29th against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It is the earliest “must-win” game in Clippers franchise history!
Surprise contribution
Don’t you have to contribute in order for there to be a surprise? Mhm, yes, yes you do. There were no surprise contributions in this “game”. On to the next one.
