With Kyrie Irving back in the lineup Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks’ offense ran much smoother than
it did during Thursday’s 23-point loss to the Clippers.
Irving popped in 15 points and distributed six assists, and the Mavs were able to split their two-game set with LA by defeating the Clippers, 113-97, before a sellout crowd of 20,102 at American Airlines Center. The victory ran the Mavs’ record to 18-10 and made them winners in 13 of their last 16 games.
The Mavs looked much more poise with Irving back in the lineup after he missed Thursday’s game with soreness in his right shoulder. They were able to get into their set offense more effectively, and Irving drew some double-teams which left his teammates wide open for jump shots or forays to the basket.
“Kyrie is Kyrie, man,” forward Naji Marshall said. “He’s like the engine, and we just follow him. He just led the way for us tonight.
“He’s a great leader for us young guys — guys who’s been in the league for a minute — and we kind of just follow him. Glad to have him back.”
Irving even took on the responsibility of guarding James Harden, the Clippers’ high-scoring guard. Harden finished with 19 points on just 6-of-18 shots – he was 2-of-9 from downtown – and he also turned the ball over a whopping seven times.
“Kai was off for a couple of days, so his energy level was high, and he was up for that challenge tonight and he did a really good job on the defensive end and offensive end,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He had some good looks that just didn’t go down for him, but I liked his activity on the defensive end tonight. It was really, really good.”
Mavs reserve guard Quentin Grimes also was realty, really good. During a span encompassing three minutes and three seconds in the fourth quarter, Grimes tallied 14 of his team-high 20 points that bumped the Mavs’ lead to 95-80 with 7:13 remaining in the game.
Grimes nailed a trio of three-pointers during that span, connected on three free throws after he was fouled while attempting a three-pointer, then scored when his attempted lob pass to Dereck Lively II ended up in the basket before it could get to Lively.
“What makes it even better is that your teammates, they’re pulling for you and they’re all excited for you more than you are for yourself,” said Grimes, who converted 7-of-8 baskets. “When you got teammates that bring that energy and want to see you succeed, it makes it a lot easier for me to go out there and just have
fun and everybody go out there and just have fun.”
And during a fourth quarter that saw them score 39 points, the Mavs were having tons of fun. Even after Norman Powell (29 points) knocked down a pair of free throws to get the Clippers within 100-94 of the Mavs with 4:41 left, no one on the North Texas team appeared stressed.
Klay Thompson (16 points, four steals) took a pass from Irving and fired in a three-pointer shortly thereafter. Then, Spencer Dinwiddie (15 points) drained three free throws, P. J. Washington (10 points) hammered home a dunk, Thompson drilled another three-pointer, and Dinwiddie scored inside to pad the Mavs’ cushion to 113-96.
It was a night that saw the Mavs have eight players score 10 or more points in a game for the second time this season, while the Clippers dropped to 16-13 and were just 10-of-37 from downtown.
“(We were) just trusting the pass and trusting the person who’s going to make the next play and the person who’s on the bench to come and get you,” said Lively, who finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. “No matter who’s on the floor, we’re all being aggressive, we’re all trying to. . .play Mavs basketball, and that’s what’s been able to get us this far.”
The Mavs shot 45.5 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range, and outrebounded the Clippers, 43-40. Marshall, who scored 12 points, said the Mavs were “just moving and getting stops for the most part. I think when we get stops we can get anything we want.
“I think that fuels us. When we come out the gate getting stops I think it’s going to be a good night for us.”
Behind seven points from Marshall and some solid defense, the Mavs held a slim 23-22 lead after the first quarter. Then, Dallas limited the Clippers to just 18 points in the second quarter as the Mavs led, 54-40, at halftime.
“No matter if they were making shots or missing shots, we were together,” Lively said. “We were talking and we were being aggressive.
“The last game (against the Clippers) I felt like we were the team that got punched first. This game we were trying to be the team that punched first, and that’s what we did. We tried to keep that level of intensity and level of aggression throughout the whole game.”
For Kidd, this game was a picture of beauty, especially with his bench outscoring the Clipper reserves, 46-24.
“Rebounding the ball was big for us, (and) taking care of the ball and keeping them out of transition,” he said. “That hurt us in the last game.
“I thought the group did a great job of responding to the mistakes that we made in that first game.”
The Mavs also did a great job of locking down Clippers center Ivica Zubac, who has tormented them in the past and was limited to just 13 points after scoring 21 points Thursday on 10-of-13 shots.
“I think the way that he played in that first game we had to get a response, and the two bigs responded in a positive way and they made it hard on him,” Kidd said. “We got some turnovers, we kind of made him rush a little bit.
“He missed some shots that he made in that first game, but I thought the activity for our bigs and the physicality was a lot better tonight.”
Zubac was 6-of-10 from the field, and Lively said he and center Daniel Gafford were “just being aggressive, just trying to take him off of his line, take him off his spots before he gets the ball and making it difficult and taking him out of his comfort zone.”
And with point guard Luka Dončić missing his second consecutive game due to a left heel contusion, the Mavs were still able to be steady and upright long enough to withstand whatever the Clippers threw their way. The return of Irving certainly helped in that regard.
“It was most definitely important to get a W today after dropping one Thursday,” Marshall said. “We played Dallas Mavericks basketball, and you see the results.”
X: @DwainPrice
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