LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — After the road team won 6 of the games during this series which is an NBA first, the Clippers defeated the Mavericks 126-111 to end their season and advance to the Western Conference Semi’s.
Entering today’s game, the Mavericks had a clear understanding of what was at stake. What happened over the course of the last 6 games had zero meaning and record wise the Clippers and Mavericks were in the same “when or go home and take your ball with you” situation. Rick Carlisle vocalized that during the game 7 pre-game press conference saying “it’s game 7, we don’t give a s*** what time it is, we’re ready to go”, which makes sense, but his statement packed a punch intent and his team responded accordingly to tip off the game.
The players who are seen as “transcendent” talents are players who play best with their backs against the wall, and do everything possible to lead their team to victory. Luka Doncic continues to prove why he is the next great thing in the NBA. Doncic exploded offensively in the first quarter scoring 19 points connecting on 6 out of 8 of his shot attempts at a 75% clip and the rest of the team shot 57% from the floor.
In this playoff series, the highest paid player on the roster Kristaps Porzingis has not been the #2 the Mavericks thought they had, scoring less than 10 points in 4 out of 6 games. Porzingis got off to a solid start scoring 8 points which is 1 point more than his point total in game 6.
Because of how fluidly the Mavericks offense was working they secured a 38-35 lead to end the quarter, but it was clear this game was going to come down to which team would have the biggest impact defensively and at the right moment.
Just like in the previous games the Mavericks found a way to sputter in the second quarter and give the Clippers another chance to make a run at the lead. Luka Doncic helped the Mavericks keep their head above water, converting on 67% of his shots and scoring 10 points increasing his point total to 29 points. The Mavericks troubles had much to do with their performance from other players on the roster. Depth has always been a main concern for the Mavericks and it was something they tried to address by changing their rotation but the Clippers have had the clear advantage through the 7 games that have been played.
Dallas finished the second quarter shooting at 44% clip after converting on 64% of their shots in the first which resulted in the Clippers taking their largest lead over the Mavericks to end the first half leading 70-62, but Dallas made a solid push at the end of the quarter.
The 6 previous game results have been inconsistent for the most part, so if you took the score at halftime from those games and guessed who won them, it wouldn’t be the easiest task. Throughout the entire series both teams have tugged at the lead and neither team has lost in a blowout. If the lead is within 10 points for either team, the game is still winnable.
The lead remained within reach for the Mavericks for most of the quarter after Dallas tied the game at 81 midway through the third quarter but struggled to slow down the Clippers defensively. Marcus Morris Sr was the most impactful player on both sides of the floor during the final minutes of the quarter scoring 9 points, creating opportunities off of Mavericks turnovers, and that resulted in the Clippers taking a large 100-85 lead over the Mavericks.
12 minutes. That’s all the Mavericks had to change their fate and in order to do so, they needed to find ways to stop the Clippers from scoring at a high clip and force bad shots. It took the Mavericks awhile for that to come into fruition but it did and the Mavericks went on a 13-3 to bring the Clippers lead to within 7 points with just over 2 minutes remaining in the game, but Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris Sr knocked down two back to back three pointers to increase their lead back 13 points putting the game out of reach and ending Dallas’s season after leading the series 2-0 and two chances to end the series.
In brief summary, it’s impressive what the Mavericks were able to accomplish this season because of the bad breaks they suffered during the regular season. With Covid-19 protocol issues, injuries to start the season, and figuring out team chemistry because of the shortened off-season, at one point during this season many thought the Mavericks were a borderline playoff team and those impressions didn’t change until they went on their run to secure the 5th seed in the Western Conference.
There are many priorities the Mavericks need to address, but the main one is finding Luka Doncic, another superstar that compliments him and can provide the help the team needs in crucial moments, because of right now it is hard to imagine Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson, and Rick Carlisle believe they have that player on the roster presently.
It will be interesting to see what the Mavericks do with personnel and who they may potentially acquire to outfit the glaring needs on their roster in the offseason and if it will be enough to possibly make a run at the championship next season, but for now as unfortunate as it sounds the NBA postseason will move on and the Mavericks will get an early head start on their offseason.
