Dallas Mavericks have outplayed the LA Clippers in the bubble, should be up 2-0
The Dallas Mavericks waited until August to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers for the first time this season.
The second-seeded Clippers swept the Mavericks during the regular season, and won Game 1 of their first round Western Conference playoff series in the Disney World NBA bubble, thanks to generous officiating.
The Clippers are tied in this series when they should trail 0-2.
Even with Luka Doncic in foul trouble and on the bench for much of the fourth quarter, the Mavericks defeated the Clippers on Wednesday night, 127-114.
The last time the Mavs won a playoff game was in April of 2016, a Game 2 first round win at Oklahoma City. Thanks to my man, Mavs radio voice and sports savant Chuck Cooperstein, the last time this franchise won a playoff game without Dirk Nowitzki was Game 6 of the West Finals against the Lakers in 1988.
This current best-of-seven series against the other LA team “moves” to Texas for Game 3 on Friday night. The game is in Orlando, and counts as a home date for the Mavs.
Don’t ask. It’s 2020. Just go with it.
Had the Mavs not been robbed by the refs with the needless ejection of center Kristaps Porzingis in the third quarter of Game 1, they would lead this series 2-0.
With a full lineup, they have outplayed the Clippers in this series. Hell, they outplayed the Clippers without Doncic.
“You have to live in the present and understand that these type of challenges in a playoff series are going to happen. They are going to happen to younger teams,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the game on a Zoom interview. “As far as what could have been? It doesn’t matter. It’s a five-game series. This is great for our guys.”
On Wednesday night, Doncic set another NBA record, but for one of the few times a game wasn’t about him.
Doncic was hit with his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter, and he played less than half of the final period.
By that time he came back in, the game was no longer a game. Clippers forward Paul George couldn’t throw the ball into the Gulf of Mexico, and the Mavs had a double-digit lead for essentially the duration of the fourth quarter.
The bench carried the Mavs to a lead so big that their historic late-game concerns were not even an issue.
Nine players scored for the Mavericks, with Doncic leading the way with 28 points.
He now has 70 points in his first two career NBA playoff games. That is a modern day NBA record, one point more Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Former Lakers center George Mikan scored 75 points in his first two playoff games, approximately 63,232 years ago.
Of Doncic’s 70 playoff points, only two came in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night. He hit a floater with 90 seconds remaining, when the Mavs didn’t need his scoring.
One game after he was tossed early, Porzingis played despite thinking the day before his knee would allow it. He finished with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Everyone who touched the floor for the Mavericks did something positive. Reserve center Boban Marjanovic scored 13 points with nine rebounds. In 10 minutes.
The team shot 50 percent from the floor, outrebounded the Clippers, and held George to 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
Unlike the regular season when the Clippers were the better team, the Mavericks have outplayed them thus far.
“Difference in the regular season was they were more aggressive than us,” Porzingis said after the game on a Zoom interview. “We know they were not going to be able to keep that physicality and aggressiveness. The intensity is high. Every game is life or death.”
In the regular season, the Clippers were better than the Mavericks.
In the bubble, the Mavericks have been better than the Clippers.
Their playoff series is tied when the Mavs should be ahead 2-0.
