Luka Magic: Clippers vs. Mavericks Game Four (August 23, 2020)
The Los Angeles Clippers took on the Dallas Mavericks in game four of their first round matchup, with the Clippers up 2-1. Luka Doncic (43 pts, 17 reb, 13 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk) was active after hurting his ankle in game three, but Kristaps Porzingis (DNP) was out with a knee injury.
With Porzingis out, Doncic was going to have to do almost everything for the Mavs, but it wasn’t looking good early on. He and Tim Hardaway Jr. (21 pts, 5 reb) struggled, combining to shoot, 2-9 on their first nine shots. Meanwhile, Paul George (9 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast, 3-14 from the field, 1-7 from three) decided he wanted to be good at basketball again, and actually made a couple shots for LA in the first.
Doncic, as usual, was letting his frustration get to him. He picked up a tech just eight minutes into the game for complaining to the refs and making an aggressive motion towards them. Dallas was getting killed, as the Clips showed why they’re the two seed out west.
Just as I predicted, Doncic was doing a lot of everything for Dallas. He already had five dimes in the first quarter, and was trying to keep his team in the game. Boban Marjanovic (10 pts, 7 reb) was having a good game early, too, as he grabbed rebounds over the undersized Clippers bench. It just looked like they were being outplayed at every turn.
Reggie Jackson (14 pts, 4 reb), Kawhi Leonard (32 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl , 1 blk) and George led the charge for LA through one. They were looking to blow out the shorthanded Mavericks.
LA was simply playing much better basketball than the Mavs were, there was no other way to put it. Lou Williams (36 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast) was putting on one of his scoring clinics, and the Mavs didn’t have a dominant scorer. Doncic was struggling, and when he went to the bench things only got worse.
Dallas couldn’t make a three if their life depended on it. The only way they were going to be able to compete, especially without Porzingis, was if they made a majority of their shots. The exact opposite happened in the first half, as the Mavs found themselves in a huge hole on the scoreboard.
JaMychal Green (8 pts, 3 reb), Jackson, and Williams were a force off the bench for LA. They alone combined for 3/4 of the Mavs’ point total at one point. Doncic came back in the game and tried to pick his team up, but things were not looking good. With no three point production, there wasn’t much Dallas was going to be able to do.
The Clipper’s defense was outweighing the Mavs’ usually stellar offense. Without Porzingis in the middle, Rick Carlisle was left without one of his key weapons against a Clippers team that is usually super undersized when on the court. Doncic is only one man, he couldn’t do everything… or could he?
Near the end of the second, Dallas was showing some life in large part thanks to the reigning Rookie of the Year. Trey Burke (25 pts, 5 reb, 2 stl) found some success shooting the ball as well, so it was basically those two against the world. Burke was draining threes for the Mavs when no one else on the team could. He was a human torch in the second The lead was slowly shrinking as halftime approached. LA went to the locker room up 66-58.
Burke and Doncic were on a burner in the third quarter. There was one play in particular where Burke drove and got by Leonard, who as you all know is probably the best defender in the NBA. They were focused on getting Dallas back in the game.
Meanwhile, LA looked like they were kind of just settling for shots, and on top of that Leonard went on a cold streak shooting the ball. There was very little ball movement on the offensive end as the Mavs slowly mounted their comeback. Burke and Doncic were giving them the work.
By the time the third was over, the Mavericks were up by eight and had all the momentum going for them. Doncic had a triple-double through three, and Burke just couldn’t miss. Hardaway Jr. was finally coming alive, too. Everything was going Dallas’ way.
Seth Curry (15 pts) was getting into the action as the Mavs extended their lead in the fourth. Doncic was taking a breather on the bench and Dallas was still outperforming the Clippers. LA went cold shooting the ball and on top of that lost their energy on defense. It was the perfect storm for Dallas to take a pretty commanding lead.
The Mavs were actually playing really solid defense to start the fourth, something they are typically very bad at. That being said, LA did manage to make it a close game down the stretch. They were having to find other means of production as Leonard continued to struggle.
Williams was one of the sole reasons LA was able to stay in this game. Leonard was scoring, but inefficiently and George was as useless as ever scoring the ball. That left Williams to carry the offense, and man was he trying his best. Whether it was a three, a middy, or a drive, he was doing everything for the Clippers.
Williams may have been great, but Doncic was amazing. He made two huge threes in a row for the Mavs as LA was trying to claw their way back into the game. Then the very next possession for Dallas, Hardaway Jr. nailed a three of his own. Then Jackson nailed a three for the Clippers, and Leonard did the same after a Dallas miss. LA had gotten the gap down to two points with under two minutes left, and this was turning into a playoff classic.
The last minute came and we saw Leonard clamping up Doncic. He managed to get a great stop and Williams went down the other end and drew a foul while shooting a three. The Clippers tied the game up with 50 seconds left, as he went 2-3 from the line.
Leonard got the ball and took a deep mid range shot with less than five second left on the clock. He missed the shot, but Dallas got the rebound as the clock ran out. The refs went to review the play and the Mavs got one final possession, but with only 0.2 seconds left on the game clock they weren’t able to get anything to go. This one was going to overtime.
Overtime was as much of a battle as regulation was. Both teams were trading baskets back and forth with neither side ready to give up an inch. Leonard put his clutch gene on display in OT, while Doncic did the same. A driving spin layup from the Mavs superstar put Dallas up by two with only 19 seconds left on the clock. LA had a chance to tie or win with the final shot.
Marcus Morris (9 pts, 5 reb) drained a corner three off of a dime from Leonard with only nine seconds left to put LA up by one. Now it was Doncic’s turn to give us some “Luka Magic.”
After the timeout, Jackson fouled Doncic with 3.7 seconds left on the clock and Carlisle called his last timeout of the game.
Doncic crossed up Jackson. Stepped back. Shot the ball from five feet behind the three point line. Game.
Luka Doncic called game, and an amazing second half comeback for the Mavs as they evened up this series 2-2. Final score: 135-133.
