Topping the Game 1 takeaways? Zubac dominated inside the paint

LOS ANGELES – Going into Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference playoff series, the Dallas Mavericks knew they would be in for a tussle dealing with Los Angeles Clippers’ future Hall of Fame players Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Those accolades also go to Kawhi Leonard — if he ever plays in this series.

What the Mavs didn’t anticipate is that Clippers center Ivica Zubac would play Game 1 like he too deserves some Hall of Fame mention.

OK, maybe the breaks should be pumped a bit when mentioning Zubac and hall of famers in the same sentence. But he inflicted too much damage in the series opener on Sunday when he scored a playoff career-high 20 points and snatched a game-high 15 rebounds during the Clippers’ 109-97 victory over the Mavs in Game 1 at the Crypto.com Arena.

Zubac was here, there and everywhere seemingly at the same time while controlling the painted area. His effectiveness set the tone for what became a very long night – particularly in the first half – for the Mavs.

“I felt pretty confident in the post,” said Zubac, who was 10-of-17 from the field. “I feel like I can post up pretty much anyone.

“We’ve done that pretty often this year. (I) try to get as close to the basket as possible to get some layups. It worked well.”

Mavs center Daniel Gafford took responsible for what Zubac was able to achieve in Game 1. Gafford finished with just three points and no rebounds in 14 minutes, and picked up two fouls less than four minutes into the game.

“There were guys that came out that were ready to play, and then guys like me for sure that was out there on the floor just running down the floor,” Gafford said. “I wasn’t able to commit to anything and give anything to the team at the time.”

Gafford vows to play with more force and bring more physicality when the series resumes in LA on Tuesday.

Here are the other takeaways from Game 1:

THE OTHERS DIDN’T STEP UP: Sometimes in a playoff series, coaches don’t worry what they’re going to get from their superstars, because the superstars usually show up. What keeps coaches up at night is wondering what they’re going to get from their other players. In the case of Game 1 in this series, Mavs superstar guards Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving scored 64 points on 21-of-44 shooting, and also ad 20 rebounds and 10 assists. The others? They combined for just 33 points on 10-of-36 shooting and collected only 21 rebounds and four assists.

A SECOND HALF OF ENCOURAGEMENT: After stumbling out of the gate in historic fashion in the first half, the Mavs have to be very encouraged about how they handled things in the second half. The Mavs scored a franchise playoff-low 30 points in the first half when they mostly couldn’t get out of their own way. But they settled down nicely in the second half when they showed a much better brand of physicality and outscored the Clippers, 67-53. That’s the wave the Mavs hope to ride into Game 2.

WORRIED TOO MUCH ABOUT KAWHI?: Maybe, just maybe, the Mavs lost their focus when they perhaps got too concerned with whether or not Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard was going to play in Game 1. And the Clippers used that to their advantage, announcing less than two hours before tipoff that Leonard wasn’t playing because of inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee. By the time the Mavs re-grouped from not having to worry about defending Leonard, they were mired in a situation where they trailed by 10 or more points during the game’s final three quarters.

X: @DwainPrice