With their backs up against the ropes and faced with a must-win Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, the LA Clippers finally swung back. Led by Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and new starter Reggie Jackson, the Clippers defeated Dallas 118-108 despite 44 points from Luka Doncic.
Friday’s win was no easy task. Not only did the Mavs have over 17,700 fans in the building for the first time this season, but the Clippers also faced an 30-11 hole just minutes into the game. With a 19-point deficit and the crowd roaring, the Clippers dug in to get stops defensively, allowing that to ignite their offense.
“Came out, the crowd was electric,” Tyronn Lue said after the win. “Just hearing the fans early on start of the game just even in the starting lineups, fans gave a lot of juice early and we just had to weather the storm. I thought we did a great job of that. We didn’t get down. We didn’t get discouraged and we just stuck with the game plan. The second time-out I called, it was like, ‘listen, let’s just stick with the game plan. Luka made some shots early like he always does and now we have to be ready to weather the storm and keep attacking the offensive end,’ and like I said, I give our guys credit because they did that.”
Kawhi Leonard scored his first basket after the Clippers fell 30-11, and also made his next six as he started the game 7-of-7 from the field for 16 points, all in the first half. Paul George scored 11 straight points and 13-of-15 in the second quarter to give the Clippers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the night.
“I thought PG and Kawhi were fantastic,” Lue affirmed. “I thought PG really carried us in the first half, and then Kawhi in the second half, you know, really took over the game. That’s what we need from those two guys.”
Kawhi Leonard finished with 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting. Paul George poured in 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting. Together, the duo combined for 65 points on 69 percent shooting from the field. It was the highest combined shooting percentage between the two Southern California stars.
This time around, they had some help. Marcus Morris knocked down a trio of three-pointers as the Mavs were mounting a comeback in the fourth quarter en route to a big, 15-point night. Reggie Jackson, who was inserted into the starting lineup in place of Patrick Beverley for the first time this postseason, scored 16 points and dished out four assists.
“I thought [Reggie] had pace. He played great tonight had some big shots, 16 points. We ran our offense a little better. Even passing, defensive battle, setting the tone defensively. But we started, scoring one point per possession — not saying it was Pat’s fault but we just needed a jolt, we needed some more energy, attacking basket and play with pace. And that was the thought with Reggie starting, and I thought he did a great job of that.”
Dallas shot 44.2 percent on the night and 51.3 percent from beyond, meaning they were at about just 38.3 percent on two pointers.
“I think we did a good job,”Leonard said. “They still made half of their threes tonight, so we still got to work to do. They are shooting the ball great and we’ve got to give credit, some of those are contested and they are knocking them down.”
The Clippers and Mavs have each had two days off between Games 1 and 2 and Games 2 an 3. That gave both teams more time to rest and gameplan for the other. For the Clippers, that meant a handful of extended conversations, walkthroughs, and film sessions as they try to figure their defensive coverages for Doncic and the rest of his Dallas teammates.
“There’s been a lot of conversations,” Rajon Rondo said. “Ever since we lost Game 2, even Game 1, there’s been a lot of dialogue after the games in the locker room trying to figure out how we can be better. Once we got on the plane yesterday, we talked about the game, got off the plane and went over the scouting reports in more details. It’s been a nonstop thing, constantly on my mind, personally and the team as well, understanding what we have at stake and the talent that we have and how we can overcome this 0-2 deficit.”
"Ever since we lost Game 2, even Game 1, there's been a lot of dialogue after games trying to figure out how to be better. Once we got on the plane, talked about the game… It's been a nonstop thing, constantly on my mind personally & the team as well."
– Rajon Rondo #Clippers pic.twitter.com/Ae8rtZ5dIY
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 29, 2021
At this point in the series, it really feels like the Clippers have figured the Mavs out on the offensive end, getting to whatever spot on the floor they want and ending up with whatever shot they want. Paul George, for one, has made it a point to attack the typically porous Dallas defense. He’s upped his drives per game from 11.8 in the regular season to 17 in the postseason.
They’ve scored 121 points and 118 points on 56 percent shooting from the field over the last two games. Their problems have clearly been on the defensive end.
“We just watched film and broke it down, seeing what we could do better, on defense,” Marcus Morris claimed. “Our offense has been pretty good. We scored 121 points the second game and I’m not really too much worried about that. We’re still scoring the ball. We need to focus on defense. We watched film three times as a team, and the players together and we just had to fix some things.”
"Those guys are killers man. No matter what's being said in the media or the outside world, those guys come in, work their ass off every single day. They don't bitch and moan about anything. They come out and do their job."
Marcus Morris on Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. pic.twitter.com/vfbL27oUC1
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 29, 2021
For the first time this series, both teams only get one day off Saturday before facing each other once again on Sunday night at 6:30 PM PST.
If Paul George and Kawhi Leonard’s postgame comments give any indication, the Clippers are far from satisfied with just one win.
“We’ve yet to show anything,” George noted after the game. “We’re down 2-1. We haven’t showed anything. We’re not the favorites. We’re not the defending champs. We haven’t showed anything. We have to continue to keep doing it. We’ve got to win this series but it’s one game at a time. We’ve got to win Game 4 and send it back to L.A. Take home-court advantage. But off one win, we haven’t shown anything.”
"We've yet to show anything. We're down 2-1, we haven't shown anything. We're not the favorites, we're not the defending champs. We haven't shown anything. We gotta continue to keep doing it. We gotta win this series, but it's 1 game at a time.”
– Paul George #Clippers pic.twitter.com/5vmV9cNGPa
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 29, 2021
“We won a basketball game,” Leonard added. “Came out and kept our composure in that first quarter and we were able to get a win. But we haven’t done anything. We haven’t done anything, so, you know, won one game.”
“We were able to keep our composure and we was able to get a win, but haven’t done anything. We haven’t done anything. We’ve won one game.”
Kawhi Leonard on winning Game 3 vs. the Mavs. #Clippers pic.twitter.com/6lOv8gtvaA
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 29, 2021
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