The Los Angeles Clippers just endured their biggest loss in playoff history. The Dallas Mavericks took a convincing 30-point win (123-93) at the Crypto.com Arena. The Mavs currently hold a 3-2 lead, and they would need just one more win to progress to the next round. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were the stars of the night, scoring 35 and 14 points respectively. Although Kyrie’s scoring numbers aren’t what we’re used to seeing, his defense on James Harden proved to be a key difference.
The Beard ended the game with only 7 points, which is nowhere near the numbers he has been averaging in this playoff series. In 5 games, Harden has been averaging 22.2 points and 7 assists per game against the Mavericks. That average could have been much higher if the Mavs defense, mainly Kyrie didn’t lock him down.
Another James Harden playoff stinker for the record books pic.twitter.com/qb8cKaDD67 https://t.co/en8klBYWTY
— sam 🫥 (@fbl_sam) May 2, 2024
Here’s the Harden stinker pic.twitter.com/XQcNCXrNek
— Yasser (@078Yasser) May 2, 2024
2 of 12 from the floor is absurd
— Eddie (@kameidotrading) May 2, 2024
FLOPPED WHEN IT MATTERED
— VALUE PICKS (@VALUEPICKS4) May 2, 2024
Fans were not particularly impressed with Harden’s performance, as one wrote, “Another James Harden playoff stinker for the record books,” indicating that the Clippers star adds another game to his playoff shortcomings. Another wrote, “Flopped when it mattered,” which holds some truth as well. If Harden and the Clippers had made their shots and won the game, the Clippers would have a good 3-2 lead going into the next game.
Paul George unimpressed with the Dallas Mavericks’ defense despite losing by 30 points
The main reason why the Clippers lost by 30 points would be their shooting. The LA-based franchise failed to make many of their shots, leaving the Mavs with an easier job to do. The Clippers went 33-87, with a FG% of just 37.9. That’s fairly low for a team like the Clippers, which boasts world-class players like Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Harden.
After the game, PG spoke about the Mavs‘ defense, but he wasn’t all praises for his opponents even though his team lost by a huge margin. He said, ” I thought they played the same defense. I mean their defense all series has just been to load up and force us to make plays and forced to get the ball out of our hands um so they didn’t do anything differently.”
“I thought I think to start I could have done a better job of just making plays taking what the defense gave me there was a lot of opportunities for kick outs that I missed that I thought we could have took advantage of uh but you know I tried to score and make you know be aggressive offensively to score more so than start out being aggressive offensively,” George added.
The Clippers star believes that the Mavs did not change up their defensive plan to keep Harden at bay, as well as the other players. He claims that the opponents’ defensive strategy is mainly on load up on the Clippers and force them to make mistakes. This would be surprising to hear for fans, especially after how Kyrie switched to a different role on the night to lead his side to the win.
Luka Doncic heaps praise on Kyrie Irving’s defense vs Clippers’ James Harden
As mentioned earlier, Kyrie went under the radar in the win, but he was the difference between the two teams. One of the plays from the game summed it up best. Irving went for the steal against James Harden, drove on the offense, went around the back while attacking the rim against Norman Powell, and made an and-1 finish.
WHAT A BUCKET KYRIE IRVING 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zIiGrYXHjA
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 2, 2024
Luka Doncic had nothing but praise to shower on Kyrie. He said to media, “I think that Jones and PJ they played great defense. Kyrie was playing great defense pressuring him the whole time. And like I said, we just locked in. We were communicating. We know there is scouting, so we just follow the scouting.”
The Mavericks will certainly be in high spirits after a win like this. It is not every day that we see a team like the Clippers lose by a huge margin, especially at home. Luka and Kyrie will be aiming to close out the series in Game 6 in their home arena, which would surely be an advantage for them.