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Clippers Bounce Back in Rout of Mavericks
The LA Clippers grabbed a important, 107-88 win at home against the Dallas Mavericks in a mostly wire-to-wire affair.
Summary
Talk about night and day. If the Clippers looked sluggish and clunky offensively on Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, Saturday night against the Mavericks was anything but.
It was the Clippers who struck first and struck hard in the first quarter. They built a double digit lead and by the end of the first period they led 29-18. The Clippers were powered early on by Paul George and Terance Mann, who combined for 17 points on 8-11 shooting.
That first quarter was a harbinger of things to come. The Clippers continued to build their lead in the second quarter and although the Mavericks kept trying to chip away at the lead, the Clippers would always have an answer.
“I think defensively we were really good tonight. Luka [Doncic] had 22 in the first half, only had eight in the second half,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said postgame. “I thought we did a really good job game-plan wise, showing Luka the blitz, sometimes switches. . .just try to keep him off balance. . .When you struggle to shoot the basketball, Kawhi and James didn’t have a great night, and beat a good team like this, that says a lot.”
Helping provide a spark for the Clippers in the second quarter when they increased their lead was Russell Westbrook. Westbrook bounced back from a not so great game against the Pelicans to finish with 14 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
Westbrook continued his strong play in the second half, scoring most of his points across the final two periods of play and often times taking the ball right at Doncic. He impacted the game in multiple ways, something that he knows he’s able to do every time he sets foot on the court.
“The game will tell you what to do. Even tonight, I shot the ball twice until the fourth quarter,” Westbrook said after the game. “I know I’m able to do everything else on the floor and defend at a high level. . .My job is to continue making sure when I come in, we extend our lead or build it or stay the same. But don’t give up leads, find ways to be effective on both ends and whatever the game tells you what to do, that’s what I’ll do.”
Notes
Kawhi Leonard hasn’t quite had a Kawhi-like game these past few matchups. He was 8-17 and 1-7 from three-point range against the Pelicans and 2-12 and 0-5 from three against the Mavericks. After the Mavs game, Tyronn Lue mentioned that he doesn’t have any concerns about Leonard health-wise at the moment. It’s likely just a by-product of adjusting to new roles since the James Harden trade, but its something worth keeping an eye on as the season goes on.