Paul George finally shows up as LA Clippers bully meek Dallas Mavericks for 3-2 lead
Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George was the second, or third best, player for the Dallas Mavericks in the majority of their playoff series.
While Kawhi Leonard played like Kawhi Leonard, PG played like the eighth guy off the bench.
In Game 5 of the Mavericks’ first-round playoff series, the Paul George from the regular season finally appeared for the Clippers.
George scored a game-high 35 points, and the Clippers bullied the Mavericks from the start of the game. The second half was basically garbage time as the Clippers won 154-111, and now lead the series 3-2.
The Clippers’ point total is a Mavericks’ franchise record for points allowed in a playoff game. The previous record was 137 set in 2003.
“Very poor performance by us,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the game.
It was so bad that Carlisle was ejected from the game. It’s the first time in Carlisle’s career he was tossed from a playoff game.
Carlisle was upset with officials for allowing the Clippers to challenge a call.
“I thought the call was wrong and so I was asking about it and was not getting a great explanation,” Carlisle said. “It turned into a technical, and another technical. I was standing up for my team.”
None of it would have mattered. Nothing was going to change the outcome of this game.
The seventh-seeded Mavericks were due for a dog game in this series, and Game 5 was a dogpile.
One of the reasons the Mavericks had tied this series was the poor play from George. He had become a liability for the Clippers.
On Tuesday night, George scored more points than he did in the previous three games combined, and the Clippers made 22-of-35 from 3-point range.
“The bubble got the best of me. I was in a dark place,” George told the TNT crew after the game. “I found my way. I’m back.”
While the combination of Leonard and George played like they did during the regular season as the Clippers finished with the second-best record in the NBA’s Western Conference, the Mavericks played without their second-leading scorer, Kristaps Porzingis.
Porzingis missed the second consecutive playoff game with a sore right knee. Carlisle said he does not expect Porzingis to play in Game 6, which is scheduled for Thursday night.
The Mavericks were able to come back from a large second-quarter deficit in Game 4 without KP. Luka Doncic could not do this alone in Game 5.
Doncic finished with 22 points on 6-of-17 shooting, and played 31 minutes.
The Clippers were more physical, more vocal from the bench, and the Mavs were not happy with the way the game was handled by the officials.
“They’ve been doing a lot of chirping this series,” Mavs guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
The Mavericks started the game with a 16-9 lead. If you turned the game off at that point, wise decision.
The Mavs were outscored 32-6 the rest of the quarter, and trailed 76-52 at the half.
Simply put, this was never a game.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 11:38 PM.
