With 28 points, James Harden led the way for Los Angeles.
First up on the board are the Los Angeles Clippers.
In their first-game encounter, Los Angeles defeated the Dallas Mavericks 109-97 on Sunday, despite the absence of top player Kawhi Leonard due to an injury.
The Clippers maintained their pressure on Dallas in the second quarter, outscoring them 22-8, after taking a commanding 34-22 lead in the first quarter.
Dallas never had a lead, while Los Angeles’ biggest lead was 29 points. Dallas put together a late-fourth-quarter push to try to make things interesting, but the real goal was to look good on the scoreboard.
Here are five things to remember from the Clippers vs. Mavericks Game 1 matchup:
A well-rounded Clipper attack is led by James Harden.
Without Leonard, the pressure was on the other group of L.A. celebrities to finish the job at home. Harden was the driving force behind the Clippers’ successful and well-rounded offensive strategy.
Leading the way was Harden, who scored 28 points on 8 of 17 shots overall, including 6 of 11 from beyond the arc and 6 of 6 from the foul line. He also added two rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
Russell Westbrook scored 13 points off the bench, Terance Mann scored 13 points, Paul George scored 22, and Ivica Zubac dominated down low with 20 points.
The star tandem of the Mavericks receives no assistance.
Conversely, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, the star duo from Dallas, were unable to obtain the support they required to challenge Los Angeles.
Doncic led the club with 33 points, although his shooting was not very effective—he only made 11 of 26 shots overall, 4 of 12 from beyond the arc, and 7 of 8 from the foul line. He also had six assists, 13 rebounds, and one steal. Irving finished with seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and 31 points on 10 of 18 shooting overall, including 3 of 6 from beyond the arc and 8 of 9 from the foul line.
P.J. Washington, who finished with 11 points on 4 of 10 shots overall, was the only other Maverick to score more than ten points. Tim Hardaway Jr. was limited to just six points in 16 minutes off the bench, while Maxi Kleber scored three in 27 minutes while serving as a substitute.
The 3-point line is illuminated by clippers.
3-pointers were a major factor in Los Angeles’ victory in the first game. As a unit, the Clippers made 18 of 36 (or 50%) while the Mavs only made 10 of 33 (30.3%).
In addition, players like Mann (3 of 3) and Westbrook (2 of 4) had excellent performances. Harden and George combined for ten triples as a pair.
It may not be sustainable, but in a playoff situation, every margin matters. Even without their arguably best player, the Clippers managed to dominate them all.
Ivica Zubac has achieved success. Start of the game
While Zubac hasn’t typically performed well against the Mavericks in postseason games, his effort in Game 1 demonstrated how important he is to this Clippers team.
The 27-year-old Zubac, who averaged 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds in 68 regular-season games, had a mini-breakout performance. The Clippers essentially only have two rotational big men in Zubac and Mason Plumlee, off the bench.
Daniel Gafford, the starting center for Dallas, only managed three points in fourteen minutes, comfortably outscored by Zubac, who finished with twenty points on 10 of 17 shooting, fifteen rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block in 33 minutes. The direction this series takes might be interesting if Zubac can keep up these levels even with Leonard back in the mix.
Game 2 will put the Mavericks’ mindset to the test.
In the event that the Mavericks drop Game 2 on Tuesday, it won’t be a “do or die” situation. However, before the series moves to Dallas for Games 3 and 4, they will at the very least need to demonstrate greater resiliency.
The Mavericks have qualified for the postseason three times since the Doncic era—not including this season. Two of those ended with first-round defeats to the Clippers, and the other one featured a run to the Western Conference Finals devoid of any meetings with the Los Angeles team.
In what will be a pivotal postseason, Doncic and company must show the Clippers are not their playoff kryptonite.