Zinger-less Mavs Stun Clippers in Comeback Thriller
Series Tied at 2-2
Save this game for the grandchildren, Mavs fans! What a fantastic, improbable, gutsy win from your shorthanded Dallas Mavericks! We are witnessing the playoff birth of Luka the Legend!!
Game Story
Patrick Beverley was still out for the Clippers, and Doc once again used Shamet in his place. Luka was 36 hours out from spraining his ankle, and had received almost nonstop treatment in the interim. With MFFLs everywhere on pins and needles, Doncic was finally ruled available shortly before tipoff. Unfortunately, Kristaps turned up as a last-second scratch, with a sore knee. The air went out of the room, and Trey Burke was the next man up in the starting unit.
The first quarter started badly. The Mavs were down by 15 with about 3 minutes left, when Bobi (6 points, 3 rebounds) and Seth (a shot and a steal) gave them a bit of a lift. Scoreboard after 1: Clippers 34, Mavericks 24.
For the second quarter, Rick broke out one of his Frankstein lineups, running out Barea, THJ, DFS, Maxi, and Boban. I’m sure he felt the need to shake things up, but it was a dumpster fire. The deficit was up to 21 before five minutes had passed. Brad Townsend, of the DMN, reported that the game was over halfway through the second quarter, and I have to say, it looked that way.
But the Mavericks began to chip away, and just kept chipping, chipping, chipping, like water dripping on a stone. Luka and Burke dropped in 10 points each, and by the end of the half, the LA lead was down to eight. 58-66. It looked like Dallas might be able to end the game on a respectable note.
The third quarter was a wonder. Your boys came out blazing and never stopped. With 9:25 remaining on the clock, a Trey Burke driving layup initiated a 16-0 Mavs run resulting in a 12-point lead! Luka put up 13 points in the period, and THJ was a close second with 10. The most unexpected development was a ferocious effort by the Dallas players on the defensive end. The Clippers were held to 19 points in the quarter! After three, our team led 93-85.
Luka sat down for his usual short rest in the fourth, and his teammates kept the group afloat. He returned with about eight minutes left, and they held up well until the last five-and-a-half minutes. For reasons that escape me, they resorted to their clutch time offense of doing a lot of dribbling and standing around until Luka or whoever ended up with the ball took a difficult shot or turned the ball over. Since it’s a glorious night, let’s not wallow in those gory details. Suffice it to say that the Mavs were able to force overtime thanks to a missed Marcus Morris free throw a minute short of the buzzer. 121 all.
Luka, Burke, THJ, DFS, and Maxi did the honors in extra time. Three offensive rebounds with scores on the second tries kept the Mavs in the game. With 19 seconds remaining, a driving layup by Luka put the team up by two. The Clippers took a time out, and Rick put MKG in as a defensive sub. Kidd-Gilchrist was on Leonard, and he and Maxi converged on him at the rim. Kawhi kicked out to Marcus Morris in the corner, and Morris put the Clips up one with 9 seconds on the clock, hitting his first three of the game. The Mavs took a time out, advanced the ball, and inbounded into the back court. LA took their foul to give, leaving 4 seconds remaining. Mavs took another time out. Luka and Maxi engineered a series of moves to get Reggie Jackson (instead of Kawhi) switched on to Luka, and Luka hit a 28-ft step-back three with a hand in his face.
It was a moment to match Vince Carter’s game-winning shot against the Spurs. All the Mavs players and staff mobbed Luka, which he described as bringing on one of the best feelings he has ever had in his life.
Luka! This game! OMG! I’ve run out of words to describe it!
Analytics
This was kind of an outlier game. On the possession front, the Mavs put up 7 more shots than the Clips, which was somewhat outweighed by the Clippers’ 8-point advantage in FTAs. Dallas out-rebounded LA 54-41, and had 11 offensive rebounds. However, they lost 17 points on turnovers. At the end of the day, the Mavs beat the Clips in (ta-da) the paint. Our team were +16 on points from twos, -3 on points from threes, and a horrible -11 on made free throws. Your boys had a 62-52 advantage in points in the paint. Lots of determination to get to the hole, and the Clippers with no shot-blocking presence to speak of, I guess.
Players
Luka (46 min) - This one was the Luka Show. Pure. And. Simple. His amazing line included 43 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, and a block. What a performance! It was a Magic show, no question about it. Stars from around the league were tweeting their admiration. National media were agog. After Breen gave Luka’s game-winner a “BANG!,” he was so overwhelmed he did it again. What more can I say? We are not worthy.
Maxi (38 min) - Maxi got a little help defending Kawhi, which left him some energy to make a few other contributions. He recorded 7 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a couple of important blocks. His screening on the last possession was outstanding. Carlisle gave him and DFS high props for their defense.
Burke (38 min) - If it had not been for Luka’s all-universe play, we would be talking about Trey as the featured Mav. This man was a wonder, from start to finish. He made up for KP’s offense by putting up 25 points of his own on 10-14 shooting. He was 4-5 from three, grabbed five boards, and made a couple of timely steals. He worked every second defensively, having said that he is trying to change the narrative about himself as a one-way player. Came up REALLY big when he was needed the most. What a signing!
THJ (35 min) - At first, it looked like this could be another cold night from Tim. However, once he got going, he threw some flames. He registered 21 points, including some big threes toward the end. He also spent some time defending Paul George, and George looked suitably ineffectual.
DFS (34 min) - Doe-Doe was his dependable self, with a box score showing 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 each in the assists, steals, and blocks categories. Of course, the main story was his defense, for which he received praise from the coach. Very, very solid out there.
Curry (31 min) - Seth was excellent once again, scoring 15 points off the bench on 6-9 shooting, all inside the arc. He was also very alert defensively, and was a big factor in the team’s comeback.
MKG (19 min) - Coach made a substantial adjustment in this game, putting MKG on Kawhi for a substantial spell, giving Maxi a break. He scored only three points, but I am sure Rick would have been okay with his not scoring at all, as long as he limited Kawhi, and the team didn’t get too far behind with him on the court. (As a matter of fact, he was +8). Good move, Carlisle!
Boban (16 min) - Bobi! My man! The gentle giant had 10 points and 7 rebounds in short minutes, and frustrated his diminutive opponents. I thought he might play a little more, since the Mavs were down to two bigs, but I guess Maxi was able to carry a bigger-than-usual share of the minutes load.
Barea and Jackson (5 min each) - These two made a cameo in the second quarter. The team was rolling straight downhill at the time, and Carlisle said he thought Barea might provide the team with a little “spring.” The experiment was discontinued after a few minutes, but I guess it added a little shake, rattle, and roll to the proceedings.
Clippers — It was very much the Lou and Leonard Show. Lou Williams torched the Mavs for 36 points off the bench, and Kawhi wasn’t far behind him with 32. Playoff “P” was 3-14 for 9 points.
Observations
Rick was very pleased with the performance. He said he has been coaching for 28 years and has never seen a team fight harder for a win. Says Luka sees the game in 6G (that’s not a typo, SIX GEE). You don’t see Rick with a smile on his face much in the postgame interviews, and he appeared to be trying to preserve his robotic face, but too much pride and joy was oozing out at the corners. He loved it!
Various players and coaches were questioned about the last play and switch of Reggie onto Luka. From the Clippers’ point of view, they were playing switching defense with none of their bigs on the floor, and they were carrying out their plan. Rick gave Luka the credit for the play, saying that he likes Luka making decisions on the floor. (It was a play Rick designed out of a timeout, so Rick might have been a teeny bit modest there.)
My favorite reply was from Doc. A reporter named Jovan asked him if he still liked the switch, or whether he wishes he’d done something a little different there. Doc stared at him with a disbelieving face, had a meaningful pause, and in a “This is how I talk to my three-year-old” voice, replied, “Well, he made the shot. Right, Jovan? So, CLEARLY, now we wish we’d done something else.” Whoo. Jovan was walking off the court with smoke coming off of his tushie.
There were so many reasons to think the Mavs couldn’t pull this out. KP being scratched. Luka with a recent sore ankle only declared try-able at game-time. A new starting lineup. The Mavs going down in the first quarter and further down in the second. Hitting their clutch woes again. Almost losing in regulation. Pulling it out on an improbable LOOOOONG contested shot at the buzzer. THEY DID IT!! HOW DID THEY DO IT?? IT’S A MIRACLE!
Next. Game Five, on Tuesday. I’m still so pumped, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep before then. I think I’m going to go find a Clippers podcast and listen to the game recap from their point of view. Heh! Heh! Heh!
Series Tied at 2-2
Save this game for the grandchildren, Mavs fans! What a fantastic, improbable, gutsy win from your shorthanded Dallas Mavericks! We are witnessing the playoff birth of Luka the Legend!!
Game Story
Patrick Beverley was still out for the Clippers, and Doc once again used Shamet in his place. Luka was 36 hours out from spraining his ankle, and had received almost nonstop treatment in the interim. With MFFLs everywhere on pins and needles, Doncic was finally ruled available shortly before tipoff. Unfortunately, Kristaps turned up as a last-second scratch, with a sore knee. The air went out of the room, and Trey Burke was the next man up in the starting unit.
The first quarter started badly. The Mavs were down by 15 with about 3 minutes left, when Bobi (6 points, 3 rebounds) and Seth (a shot and a steal) gave them a bit of a lift. Scoreboard after 1: Clippers 34, Mavericks 24.
For the second quarter, Rick broke out one of his Frankstein lineups, running out Barea, THJ, DFS, Maxi, and Boban. I’m sure he felt the need to shake things up, but it was a dumpster fire. The deficit was up to 21 before five minutes had passed. Brad Townsend, of the DMN, reported that the game was over halfway through the second quarter, and I have to say, it looked that way.
But the Mavericks began to chip away, and just kept chipping, chipping, chipping, like water dripping on a stone. Luka and Burke dropped in 10 points each, and by the end of the half, the LA lead was down to eight. 58-66. It looked like Dallas might be able to end the game on a respectable note.
The third quarter was a wonder. Your boys came out blazing and never stopped. With 9:25 remaining on the clock, a Trey Burke driving layup initiated a 16-0 Mavs run resulting in a 12-point lead! Luka put up 13 points in the period, and THJ was a close second with 10. The most unexpected development was a ferocious effort by the Dallas players on the defensive end. The Clippers were held to 19 points in the quarter! After three, our team led 93-85.
Luka sat down for his usual short rest in the fourth, and his teammates kept the group afloat. He returned with about eight minutes left, and they held up well until the last five-and-a-half minutes. For reasons that escape me, they resorted to their clutch time offense of doing a lot of dribbling and standing around until Luka or whoever ended up with the ball took a difficult shot or turned the ball over. Since it’s a glorious night, let’s not wallow in those gory details. Suffice it to say that the Mavs were able to force overtime thanks to a missed Marcus Morris free throw a minute short of the buzzer. 121 all.
Luka, Burke, THJ, DFS, and Maxi did the honors in extra time. Three offensive rebounds with scores on the second tries kept the Mavs in the game. With 19 seconds remaining, a driving layup by Luka put the team up by two. The Clippers took a time out, and Rick put MKG in as a defensive sub. Kidd-Gilchrist was on Leonard, and he and Maxi converged on him at the rim. Kawhi kicked out to Marcus Morris in the corner, and Morris put the Clips up one with 9 seconds on the clock, hitting his first three of the game. The Mavs took a time out, advanced the ball, and inbounded into the back court. LA took their foul to give, leaving 4 seconds remaining. Mavs took another time out. Luka and Maxi engineered a series of moves to get Reggie Jackson (instead of Kawhi) switched on to Luka, and Luka hit a 28-ft step-back three with a hand in his face.
It was a moment to match Vince Carter’s game-winning shot against the Spurs. All the Mavs players and staff mobbed Luka, which he described as bringing on one of the best feelings he has ever had in his life.
Luka! This game! OMG! I’ve run out of words to describe it!
Analytics
This was kind of an outlier game. On the possession front, the Mavs put up 7 more shots than the Clips, which was somewhat outweighed by the Clippers’ 8-point advantage in FTAs. Dallas out-rebounded LA 54-41, and had 11 offensive rebounds. However, they lost 17 points on turnovers. At the end of the day, the Mavs beat the Clips in (ta-da) the paint. Our team were +16 on points from twos, -3 on points from threes, and a horrible -11 on made free throws. Your boys had a 62-52 advantage in points in the paint. Lots of determination to get to the hole, and the Clippers with no shot-blocking presence to speak of, I guess.
Players
Luka (46 min) - This one was the Luka Show. Pure. And. Simple. His amazing line included 43 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, and a block. What a performance! It was a Magic show, no question about it. Stars from around the league were tweeting their admiration. National media were agog. After Breen gave Luka’s game-winner a “BANG!,” he was so overwhelmed he did it again. What more can I say? We are not worthy.
Maxi (38 min) - Maxi got a little help defending Kawhi, which left him some energy to make a few other contributions. He recorded 7 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a couple of important blocks. His screening on the last possession was outstanding. Carlisle gave him and DFS high props for their defense.
Burke (38 min) - If it had not been for Luka’s all-universe play, we would be talking about Trey as the featured Mav. This man was a wonder, from start to finish. He made up for KP’s offense by putting up 25 points of his own on 10-14 shooting. He was 4-5 from three, grabbed five boards, and made a couple of timely steals. He worked every second defensively, having said that he is trying to change the narrative about himself as a one-way player. Came up REALLY big when he was needed the most. What a signing!
THJ (35 min) - At first, it looked like this could be another cold night from Tim. However, once he got going, he threw some flames. He registered 21 points, including some big threes toward the end. He also spent some time defending Paul George, and George looked suitably ineffectual.
DFS (34 min) - Doe-Doe was his dependable self, with a box score showing 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 each in the assists, steals, and blocks categories. Of course, the main story was his defense, for which he received praise from the coach. Very, very solid out there.
Curry (31 min) - Seth was excellent once again, scoring 15 points off the bench on 6-9 shooting, all inside the arc. He was also very alert defensively, and was a big factor in the team’s comeback.
MKG (19 min) - Coach made a substantial adjustment in this game, putting MKG on Kawhi for a substantial spell, giving Maxi a break. He scored only three points, but I am sure Rick would have been okay with his not scoring at all, as long as he limited Kawhi, and the team didn’t get too far behind with him on the court. (As a matter of fact, he was +8). Good move, Carlisle!
Boban (16 min) - Bobi! My man! The gentle giant had 10 points and 7 rebounds in short minutes, and frustrated his diminutive opponents. I thought he might play a little more, since the Mavs were down to two bigs, but I guess Maxi was able to carry a bigger-than-usual share of the minutes load.
Barea and Jackson (5 min each) - These two made a cameo in the second quarter. The team was rolling straight downhill at the time, and Carlisle said he thought Barea might provide the team with a little “spring.” The experiment was discontinued after a few minutes, but I guess it added a little shake, rattle, and roll to the proceedings.
Clippers — It was very much the Lou and Leonard Show. Lou Williams torched the Mavs for 36 points off the bench, and Kawhi wasn’t far behind him with 32. Playoff “P” was 3-14 for 9 points.
Observations
Rick was very pleased with the performance. He said he has been coaching for 28 years and has never seen a team fight harder for a win. Says Luka sees the game in 6G (that’s not a typo, SIX GEE). You don’t see Rick with a smile on his face much in the postgame interviews, and he appeared to be trying to preserve his robotic face, but too much pride and joy was oozing out at the corners. He loved it!
Various players and coaches were questioned about the last play and switch of Reggie onto Luka. From the Clippers’ point of view, they were playing switching defense with none of their bigs on the floor, and they were carrying out their plan. Rick gave Luka the credit for the play, saying that he likes Luka making decisions on the floor. (It was a play Rick designed out of a timeout, so Rick might have been a teeny bit modest there.)
My favorite reply was from Doc. A reporter named Jovan asked him if he still liked the switch, or whether he wishes he’d done something a little different there. Doc stared at him with a disbelieving face, had a meaningful pause, and in a “This is how I talk to my three-year-old” voice, replied, “Well, he made the shot. Right, Jovan? So, CLEARLY, now we wish we’d done something else.” Whoo. Jovan was walking off the court with smoke coming off of his tushie.
There were so many reasons to think the Mavs couldn’t pull this out. KP being scratched. Luka with a recent sore ankle only declared try-able at game-time. A new starting lineup. The Mavs going down in the first quarter and further down in the second. Hitting their clutch woes again. Almost losing in regulation. Pulling it out on an improbable LOOOOONG contested shot at the buzzer. THEY DID IT!! HOW DID THEY DO IT?? IT’S A MIRACLE!
Next. Game Five, on Tuesday. I’m still so pumped, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep before then. I think I’m going to go find a Clippers podcast and listen to the game recap from their point of view. Heh! Heh! Heh!