« I think there are some things we can take into Game 2 as strengths that we can continue to push forward and utilize and just not overthink it. »
The Los Angeles Clippers didn’t miss a beat with All-Star Kawhi Leonard out for Game 1 of the playoffs. They took full advantage of a limp and flat start by the Dallas Mavericks and ran up the score quickly, building a 29-point lead en route to a 109-97 win. The Clippers now lead the best-of-seven series 1-0.
Dallas couldn’t get anything going early. The Mavericks scored just 30 first-half points as a comedy of self-inflicted errors and missed shots befell the team. They rallied in the second half, fueled by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Still, they could never gather enough sustained momentum to threaten the Clippers’ lead seriously.
“I thought we did dig ourselves a hole; the positive is that we kept fighting there in the second half,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said in his postgame press conference. “We expected the Clippers to come out and be physical. We just didn’t respond in that first to their physicality.”
“And then again, if we’re not making shots, I thought we did a great job of keeping them in that second quarter to 22 points, but we couldn’t throw it in the ocean,” Kidd continued. “We missed layups, free throws, we missed wide wide-open shots. But to hold a team that’s talented like that to 22 points was a positive.
