An epic comeback bid by the Mavericks came up just short on Sunday afternoon in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Trailing by 31 points midway through the second quarter, the Mavericks tried to pull off a Richter-scale rally behind some clutch shot-making by Kyrie Irving. But the Clippers had an answer in the form of James Harden and Paul George, who powered them in the final moments to a 116-111 victory at American Airlines Center.
The first-round series now is knotted at two wins apiece and will return to LA for Game 5 on Wednesday. It has been reduced to a best-of-three after both teams split games on the road. Game 6 will be Friday at AAC.
“They started off the game hitting us in the mouth and hitting shots,” Irving said. “They got into a great rhythm in the first quarter. To give up 39 points in a playoff game and you’re trying to come back, it’s going to be difficult.
“We knew from that point on, we had to play almost perfect. We fell short, but this is kind of a consistent thing in this series so far, when Kawhi doesn’t play, we’re dealing with the barrage of James Harden and Paul George getting off.”
The Mavericks had staged a strong-willed rally after trailing 55-24 to take a brief lead at 105-104 with three minutes to go on Irving’s three-pointer.
But George came back with a corner three, on which Derrick Jones Jr. played up-close-and-personal defense. After Irving’s drive rimmed out, Harden converted a three-point play to make it a 110-105 Clippers’ lead.
It was a Harden drive and a George free throw that made it 113-107 before Luka Dončić got an easy layup with 22.4 left. But Harden hit a pair of free throws as the Mavericks had to foul and the Clippers held on from there.
“We don’t quit. We won’t quit,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ll play for 48 minutes and if things don’t go our way, we won’t pout and just go away. We’re going to continue to keep fighting. This was just like Game 1. We had one bad quarter. In the second quarter of Game 1, we had eight points. This time we had 16 (in the first quarter).
“We had to play perfect in that fourth and we just couldn’t come up with the key rebound.”
The Mavericks outscored the Clippers 87-61 in the game’s final 28 minutes of the game. But when they had chances to complete the comeback, it was the Clippers who came up with key plays.
“This is a veteran ballclub we’re playing,” Kidd said. “They’ve seen everything. This is the first time (our) group has been put together. So we got to go through this experience live.
“Understand what we’re facing. And when Kawhi (Leonard) is out, we got to be better. For whatever reason, we tend to relax so we got to address that, too.”
Kawhi Leonard missed the game with right knee inflammation, just as he did in Game 1, which was the other Clippers’ win in this series.
Without him, Harden and George feasted, both scoring 33 points.
Irving had 40 for the Mavericks and Dončić, who was questionable before the game with soreness in his right knee, had a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Irving said of the absence of Leonard:
“When Kawhi’s not in the lineup, they (George and Harden) are almost different players to a certain degree,” Irving said. “I think they play with a little more liberation. When Kawhi’s out there, I think they’re looking to be efficient and get each other going a little more.
“But for the second straight game when Kawhi’s not playing, I don’t think we were prepared for some of the shots they were taking. These are some of the greatest players to play of all time and they’re backs were against the wall, down 2-1.”
Indeed, the Clippers played like a desperate team to get their massive early lead, which proved to be enough to knot the series. Harden and James combined for the Clippers’ final 18 points.
“I think they’re way more aggressive trying to get their shots,” Doncic said. “PG in the first half was insane, made some tough, tough shots, a lot of threes. And Harden, the same.
“We got to know that both of them are coming. They’re hall of fame players, so we got to do a better job on them.”
Every conceivable playoff emotion was on display as the Mavericks were totally befuddled for a quarter and a half, then staged a heartfelt and exuberant surge that had the AAC crowd rocking.
Anger at the refs was punctuated by annoying plays from crowd villain Russell Westbrook. Even George, usually mild-mannered, got in on the act when he took the pose made famous by P.J. Washington in Game 3 after nailing an early three-pointer that was part of the Clippers 55-24 getaway.
It all set up a frenzied fourth quarter.
The Mavericks had it down to two points, but the Clippers got a perhaps-unexpected boost from backup center Mason Plumlee, who had three buckets and a key assist to Westbrook as the Clippers moved back in front 97-86 with 7:33 to go. But the Mavericks had a last gasp. It just wasn’t enough.
Earlier, it was a crazy, crazy game.
For the Mavericks, everything went haywire in a hurry. Dončić picked up two fouls in the first 2:23. It didn’t take him out of the game, but the Clippers most certainly were going to attack him at the defensive end.
None of the Mavericks could slow down the Clippers’ onslaught that was led by George, who had 16 first-quarter points and was the catalyst for some otherworldly shooting. The Clips hit 8-of-11 from three-point range in the opening quarter, after which they led 39-16. It got worse before it got better and the Clips wound up hitting 18-of-29 three-pointers for the game (62 percent).
By halftime, the Mavericks had cut it to 66-49, but climbing out of that 31-point hole proved to ultimately be too steep of a challenge.
X: @ESefko
Share and comment