Game 3 preview: Mavericks need to lob a few salvos toward Clippers

On the surface, what Jason Kidd said sounded crazy when he was asked why the Mavericks haven’t yet been able to get their lob-dunk game going in the first round of the playoffs.

Through two games, the Los Angeles Clippers have been successful at taking away the easy slams for Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, Derrick Jones or P.J. Washington.

Those almost always come after passes from Luka Dončić or Kyrie Irving, usually a lob.

So what did Kidd say about that?

“Yeah, that’s their game plan: make Luka score,” he said. “So we got to take what they give us. And right now, that’s what they’re giving us – to see if Luka’s going to take those shots. And he’s got to be able to make them.

“But they’re not giving us the lob. So our quarterbacks have to take what they’re giving us.”

What? Opponents daring Luka to score?

Strange but true, actually. In the first two games, Dončić had only 15 assists. The Mavericks have only averaged 15.5 assists. In the regular season, they averaged 25.7 helpers per game.

The time has come to get the ball hopping.

But the Clippers have been good about preventing that. They are daring Luka to beat them and, generally speaking, opponents do that at their own risk. Usually, it does not turn out well for them. Ask the Atlanta Hawks when Dončić had 73 points against them at Atlanta.

The onus now falls on Kidd and Dončić to figure out ways to make the Clippers pay for what they have done in the first two games.

The Mavericks will have their home fans to lean on in Games 3 and 4, so that should help. But Kidd realizes that home court is only an advantage if you treat it like it’s an advantage.

“We got to be hungry,” Kidd said. “We got to protect home, understanding that you can be beaten at home. We got to take care of the ball, play with pace. We got to understand how important it is to make open shots against them and then defensively, we got to make it as tough as possible.”

Simple enough. But easier said than done.

Here’s a few other things to look for in Game 3 on Friday night when the arena should be at its rocking best:

• Game 3 in a series tied at one is not do-or-die, but it is an important indicator of how the rest of the series will go. The winner of Game 3 in a 1-1 series advances to the next round 73.7 percent of the time (193-69).
• The Mavericks did not shoot the ball well in the two games at LA. They were 63-of-156 in Games 1 and 2 (40.4 percent), but managed to get a split.
• Do role players generally play better at home in the playoffs? The Mavericks are hoping so, not that their bench was bad in LA. “That is a saying: that the role players tend to play better at home,” Kidd said. “And hopefully that’s the case for us being at home in Games 3 and 4. But I thought they played well on the road in the last game.” Indeed, while the bench had only 13 points in the Game 2 win, the reserves did combine for nearly half (24) of the Mavericks’ 50 rebounds as they won the glass by three rebounds.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. (ankle) is out, as is O-Max Prosper (ankle). Daniel Gafford is questionable. The Clippers expect to have Kawhi Leonard back from his knee issue for the second game in a row. “For his first game, it was good,” Kidd said of Leonard’s Game 2 showing. “Defensively, he came up with steals. He took what the defense gave him. The longer this series goes, and the more he plays, he’s Kawhi. I thought he played well.”
• The Mavericks are favored by 4 ½ points and the over/under is 211.5 points.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (1-1) at MAVERICKS (1-1)

• When/where: 7 p.m., American Airlines Center, Dallas.
• TV: Bally Sports Southwest, ESPN.
• Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

X: @ESefko