Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images A historically bad second quarterd doomed the Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday afternoon, 109-97. James Harden led a balanced attack for the Clippers, scoring 28 and dishing out eight assists. Luka Doncic scored 33 and Kyrie Irving scored 31 for the Mavericks in defeat. Los Angeles opened the game getting good looks from Ivica Zubac. This resulted in Daniel Gafford picking up two early fouls and the Mavericks turning to Dereck Lively off the bench. Head coach Jason Kidd called his first timeout with Dallas trailing 16-9 following a Paul George three. Dallas looked a bit tight offensively in the frame with Luka taking five threes (missing four) and other Maverick players looking out of sorts. Meanwhile, the Clippers were hot from three with James Harden hitting three of the six makes from Los Angeles in the period. Dallas trailed 34-22 after one quarter. Little improved for Dallas to start the second, with the Clippers scoring six straight and forcing a Jason Kidd timeout. The Maverick offense stayed horrendous throughout the period, with every Dallas player missing just about everything imaginable. Meanwhile, Harden looked to be in MVP form connecting on threes and getting an incredible whistle. The Mavericks were down by as many as 27 in the period as they could only score eight points in the period. It was truly one of the worst quarters of playoff basketball that I’ve ever seen. The Mavericks trailed 56-50 at the half. Dallas woke up a bit to start the second, scoring nine quick points in the first three minutes. Los Angeles responded by connecting on back-to-back threes out of the timeout. Led by Kyrie Irving pressing the issue from the midrange, Dallas fought back to down 20 with five minutes remaining. But with Luka simply off his game, the Mavericks couldn’t eat into the lead even more. The Clippers continued to connect on threes and lead Dallas going into the fourth 87-64. Dallas cut the Clipper lead to 15, scoring 11 in the opening minutes, forcing a Los Angeles timeout. Paul George got a dunk out of the timeout then connected on a three to break the backs of the Mavericks. Zubac, who’d dominated Dallas to this point in the game, picked up a flagrant one and a technical, following a Doncic free throw. Dallas cut the lead to 17 with 5:40 on the ensuing possession. The Mavericks tried to cut it further but every time they showed a spark of making the game interesting, the Clippers had an answer. The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 109-97. More to come in a moment Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2024/4/21 ... las-109-97