Mavericks Wrangle Clippers Right Back

In the second of a mini 2 game series in Texas, the Los Angeles Clippers (26-16) got defeated by the Dallas Mavericks (21-18) 105-89 at American Airlines Center. The Clippers got the best of the Mavericks in the first game of the set on Monday, but that was not the case last night as Dallas took care of business and took the season series. LAC won the first quarter, but after that it was all Mavs as they whooped them every quarter thereafter. The Clips although they played with energy and were visibly trying to win, they just did not have it as they just could not make a shot the whole night, going only 9 for 32 from 3, and had perhaps their poorest offensive output of the season thus far.

Only mustering a measly 89 points. It was a disappointing game for them to say the least, but defeating a team on the road 2 games in row is a difficult task to achieve. Especially when their opponent’s best player Luka Doncic had one of his best nights. He was on fire the entire game putting up 42 points and 6 out of 11 3 pointers. This is not a team I would want to face again in the postseason. They were a tough out last year, and the Clips right now don’t look like they could repeat it.

STAR OF THE GAME

Luka Doncic and his 42 points 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. I am not going to gush about Puke-a as I really hate this player. Every Clippers fan hates this guy, and any NBA fan knows how good he is. He is a future league MVP. He probably will not win it this year, but he will get some votes for sure. Doncic is not a historically great 3 point shooter, but he always seems to make them when he’s playing the Clippers.

He could be struggling from distance for a prolonged stretch, but once he sees those Clipper uniforms he snaps out of it and starts to rack them up from deep. It’s annoying to say the least. Every Clipper fan remembers the game winning buzzer beater he made to win a playoff game against them and tie the series last year. The Clippers are going to have to figure out how to guard this guy. Having Patrick Beverley available last night would have helped.

BIGGEST CONCERN

Consistency. The Clippers have been up and down lately. They cannot seem to get on any sort of roll. They will win a game impressively, and then lay an egg in the following game. This has been happening since early February. This has been in part due to injury, but does not completely excuse it because they still have enough talent on the roster to be winning more than they have been. They have been lauded as the deepest team in the league all year. In my opinion it is due to the overall focus of the team.

They have been looking ahead to the playoffs all year. They just want the regular season to be over so they can go out there and prove they are championship caliber. You have to actually have to make the playoffs first guys. If they continue on this trend they will most likely fall to one of the bottom four seeds. Contrary to what they probably think in their locker room, homecourt and matchups matter big time in the NBA playoffs.

SURPRISE CONTRIBUTION

Tim Hardaway Jr. and his 15 points. He has bounced back and forth from the bench to the starting lineup going back to last year, but last night he showed that he wants to remain a starter. If you are going to let Luka go off for over 40 against you, you have to keep everyone else in check.They could not do it against Jr. as he was the second leading scorer on his team, making 3 out of 7 from 3. Even with good defense on him he would be making difficult shots, making it look easy.

He had an even better game on Monday in the loss, but last night his 15 went a long way in keeping the momentum for his team all the way to the win. His dad is up for induction in to the Hall of Fame currently, and Jr. looks like he is trying to make his own case for it for when his career is done. I don’t think personally he will ever be as good as his dad was, but after these past 2 games I don’t think the Clippers feel the same way.