The Clippers win their first night of back-to-back against the Mavs
Los Angeles Clippers #40 Ivica Zubac (C) is going up for a left-handed skyhook in the key against the Dallas Mavericks. Photo by Deangelo Scruggs/TGSportstv1 April 4, 2025.
LOS ANGELES, CA - On the first night of a back-to-back, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 114-91 to remain tied with Minnesota and Memphis for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference with five games left.
Showing signs of a well-balanced team, six players reached double figures in scoring for the second consecutive game for the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 20 points, and Ivica Zubac with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Tyronn Lue, the Head Coach for the Los Angeles Clippers, spoke at the post-game about his team getting the "professional" win against the shorthanded Mavericks "With a back-to-back it was huge for us to try to take care of business early as possible, and I have to give our guys credit they were able to do that".
After starting 0-7 shooting at the start of the game, Klay Thompson knocked down a mid-range jump shot that gave the Mavericks a 2-0 lead at the 10:05 mark in the first quarter. Norman Powell swiftly responded with a step-back three-pointer that took the lid off of the rim for the Clippers.
Kawhi Leonard's turnaround jump shot with 5:33 left in the first period put the Clippers ahead 12-10 and sparked a 19-6 run for Los Angeles as they closed out the quarter with a 29-16 lead.
The well-balanced scoring was displayed for Los Angeles as four players scored five points in the second quarter. Zubac's turnaround hook shot with 4:52 remaining, put the Clippers ahead 48-23.
The Clippers shot 50% (23-46) from the field and went 6 of 14 (42%) from three-point distance in the first half. Leonard led all scorers at halftime with 14 points.
The Dallas Mavericks struggled to make attempts, shooting 41% (17 of 41) from the field and a shocking 0% from behind the arc as they went 0-12. The Mavericks trailed 58-35 at halftime.
Max Christie opened the third quarter with a three-pointer, which was the first of the game for the Mavericks, and cut the Clippers' lead down to 20 points. Dallas managed to outscore Los Angeles 25-23 in the quarter, but James Harden's step-back three-pointer with 0:31 left in the period allowed the Clippers to take an 81-60 lead into the fourth quarter.
Dallas Mavericks #13 Naji Marshall (SF) pulling up for a jump shot inside the key against the Los Angeles Clippers. Photo by Deangelo Scruggs/TGSportstv1 April 4, 2025.
Bogdan Bogdanovic kicked off the fourth period with back-to-back threes to stretch their lead to 87-60. Bogdanovic had nine points and four assists in the first 6 minutes of the fourth, but it was his fourth assist, which was a behind-the-back pass to Drew Eubanks for a one-handed-tomahawk, that sent the fans at Intuit Dome into an uproar. The Clippers lead as many as 35 points, 105-70.
Los Angeles made (44 of 89) shots from the field for 49.4 percent and from three-point range (14-30) for 46.7 percent. However, it was the Clippers' defense that held the Mavericks to 45% from the field shooting 35 of 77 and just 20%(4 of 20) from the three-point line.
This marked the second consecutive game the Clippers' defense held an opposing team to just 4 made three-point makes after doing the same to the Pelicans on Wednesday night.
I spoke to Lue at the post-game interviews about his team's three-point defense, he stated, "just mixing up coverages. Putting Zubac in a deep drop, so everyone can stay home on pick and roll defense and not get pulled into rotations".
Naji Marshall was the leading scorer for the Mavs with 22 points. The Clippers must get some rest before a quick rematch with the Mavericks tonight at 7:30.