Two teams seeking consistency from beyond the 3-point arc get a chance to grab the upper hand in their Western Conference first-round playoff series Friday night when the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks meet in Game 3 of their best-of-seven in Texas.
The Mavericks got much more production from their supporting cast, especially from distance, when they evened the series 1-1 with a 96-93 road win on Tuesday.
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have grabbed the spotlight for the Mavericks in the first two games, during which they’ve accounted for more than 60 percent of Dallas’ scoring.
But as opposed to Game 1, when Doncic had 33 and Irving 31 but the rest of the team shot just 10-for-36 in a 109-97 loss, P.J. Washington (18) and Derrick Jones Jr. (10) combined for 9-for-16 shooting as part of the rematch win.
Doncic (32) and Irving (23) combined for nine fewer points in the win, shooting just 19-for-44 overall and 9-for-22 on 3-pointers. But led by Washington and Jones, the Dallas supporting cast stepped up its game, especially from beyond the arc, improving from 3-for-15 in the opener to 5-for-11 on Tuesday.
And don’t overlook the defensive efforts of Jones, who guarded Paul George much of the night, and Washington, Dallas coach Jason Kidd noted afterward.
“When you talk about the playoffs, he’s been big for us,” Kidd said of Washington. “We really rely on him defensively to be able to guard those guys from the Clippers, because it’s not just one, it seems like he’s guarding everyone.”
While the Mavericks improved from 30.3 percent to 42.4 percent on 3-pointers from Game 1 to Game 2, the Clippers went from 50.0 percent to 26.7 percent. From strictly a scoring standpoint, Los Angeles dominated 54-30 from the arc in its win before Dallas enjoyed a 42-24 advantage in its three-point victory.
One big difference for the Clippers was the return of Kawhi Leonard, who had missed nine consecutive games — including the series opener — with a sore right knee. Admitting he wasn’t on top of his game after the long absence, Leonard missed all five of his 3-point attempts in a 15-point effort in Game 2.
“Obviously, there is a little adjustment with him coming back, him getting his rhythm, and us playing while having our best player back on the floor with us,” George said. “The more we get back together, the timing and rhythm with everybody being back together, it’ll get back to where it was.”
James Harden (25.0 ppg) and George (22 in each game) have led the Clippers in scoring in the series. But while the Mavericks got more people in the mix in Game 2, Los Angeles got fewer, with Ivica Zubac going from 20 points to 13, Terance Mann 13 to five and Russell Westbrook 13 to seven.
The teams split two games in Dallas in the regular season. Leonard had 30 points in the most recent Dallas meeting, a 120-111 Clippers win in December. –Field Level Media
