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Clippers Win 9th in a Row, Beat Dallas 120-111 on Road The Clippers won ugly 120-111 on the road in Dallas, giving up a 22 point lead before coming back to seize the win in the final few minutes of the game and earn their 9th consecutive victory. Game Summary Both teams started out the game relatively slowly, with the score sitting at 5-4 after 2.5 minutes. At that point, each team started to get a little more into their offense, with some great ball movement on both sides leading to threes for Terance Mann and Derrick Jones Jr. Kawhi got cooking for a bit with consecutive buckets, and the Clips led 12-11 at the 6:36 mark when Russ came in for Mann. Russ picked up Luka and played intense, full-court defense that clearly annoyed the superstar. Meanwhile, on the other end, the Clippers’ offense was truly uncorked, and they scored on the vast majority of the possessions the rest of the period, even when Norm came in for Harden and Theis for Zu. The result was a 35-22 lead after one.
Harden and Mann returned to start the second alongside the bench. With not much shooting on the court outside of Norm, the Mavs threw doubles and traps to get the ball out of Harden’s hands. While this tactic was effective in slowing Harden, the Clippers were patient, moved the ball, and still got open looks. This unit played the entire first half of the period, and was fantastic, getting the lead to as large as 22 before the Mavs cut it to 18 and Kawhi and Amir returned. When the lead was trimmed to 15, Zu checked in around 90 seconds later. The Clippers looked a bit shakier the last few minutes, with Harden finding Zu several times but also turning the ball over twice and getting into the offense more slowly. It all culminated in a disastrous last minute where the Mavs got five offensive rebounds on a single possession, ending in a Hardaway three, Kawhi missed on an incredibly slow and ineffective offensive set, and Hardaway hit another three before the buzzer to cut the lead to 67-56. The Clippers’ poor play continued in the same vein, with horrible offense, defensive rebounding, ad overall lack of energy. The Clippers only scored 2 points in the first 4:45, with a 12-2 run by Dallas getting the lead to one. Norm and Russ came in early, and the spacing and energy improved, but the overall sloppiness did not. A mini burst by Kawhi and Russ in the middle part of the quarter briefly got the lead to 10, but another horrid close with turnovers and horrific rebounding saw the Mavs close it all the way down to 85-83 going into the final frame.
The Clippers started the 4th with a similar group, just with Harden instead of Kawhi. A Harden to Theis layup and Norm and-one quickly got the lead back to 7, but the Mavs soon tied it up and then took a one point lead, generating open 3s nearly every time down the court at this point. At the 7:24 mark, with the Clippers down one, Kawhi finally returned. After more rough offense, Ty Lue jettisoned all centers and went with Harden, Norm, Coffey, Mann, and Kawhi. This unit worked on offense, even with Mann’s hesitation and the ball being forced out of Harden’s hands, as Mann finally turned aggressive in the short roll and was able to make plays for others.
At around four minutes to go and the game gridlocked, the Clippers went to their best player. Kawhi caught the ball on the right elbow, drove baseline, and found Amir Coffey for three. Splash. Clippers led by 1. The rest of the quarter, to close the game out, the Clippers more or less went to that play, with Harden feeding Kawhi the ball at the elbow and the other three players on the other side of the court, every time down. And it worked. Kawhi fed a cutting Norm for an and-one. Then Kawhi made a quick move before the double came and threw it down. The Clippers led by six. Luka was fouled, but missed both free throws, and Kawhi scored again at the rim, putting the Clippers up 8 with 75 seconds to go. And that more or less did it, with the Clippers ultimately securing a 120-111 victory. Notes Kawhi, Rolling: Kawhi’s shot wasn’t falling like it has been, as he was just 1-5 from three tonight. But he was 11-17 from inside the arc and made all of his free throws for a fairly efficient 30 points, grabbed 10 rebounds (most on the team), and had five assists to zero turnovers. As brilliant as Luka is, Kawhi was the best player on the court in this one, and that was the main reason the Clippers got the win. A Mixed Bag from the Supporting Cast: The Clippers toughed this one out largely on the brilliance of Kawhi Leonard, but it was also a showcase for all of their role players with Paul George out and the ball being taken out of James Harden’s plans. And, well, we saw the good and bad with each player. Norm Powell had 21 points on 7-10 shooting and was massive for spacing purposes – but had several awful gaffes as a defender and rebounder. Terance Mann played solid defense and had a couple nice reads, but his hesitancy to shoot and be aggressive cramped the Clippers’ offensive flow and spacing. Russ brought energy, forceful defense, and excellent rebounding, but also airballed a three and was consistently helped off of by the Mavs defense, which harmed the Clippers’ offense in the halfcourt. All of these guys are positive contributors and helped the Clippers win, but there were times when all of them were frustrating.
Amir Steps Up: Amir Coffey was actually maybe the steadiest of the role players, chipping in 12 points on 3-6 shooting (2-5 from three, 4-4 from the line), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal in 38 minutes. He did have a couple bad turnovers, but his defense was solid and he was more aggressive shooting and attacking the rim than Terance. He’s undersized at the 4, which is part of why the Clippers were so bad on the glass, but he’s proven time and time again he’s an NBA rotation-caliber wing. Clippers Win 9th in a Row, Beat Dallas 120-111 on Road
Robert Flom
Source: https://213hoops.com/clippers-win-9th-i ... 1-on-road/
