The Los Angeles Clippers had a golden opportunity to take control of their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. They were at home with a chance to take a 3-2 lead before heading back to Dallas.
Despite not having Kawhi Leonard in the lineup, the Clippers had to feel confident about their chances. They had already won twice without him in the lineup, and momentum was on their side with Paul George and James Harden having great performances in Game 4.
Unfortunately for the Clippers, in potentially their last home game at Crypto.Com Arena, they fell short. The Mavericks exerted their will early on, taking a 10-point lead into halftime. It would balloon to as many as 32 points, as Dallas eventually ran away with a 123-93 victory.
Dallas received stellar performances from their stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Battling a knee injury and illness, Doncic scored a game-high 35 points with 10 assists and seven rebounds. Irving didn’t stuff the stat sheet like in previous games with only 14 points, but he set the tone early for his teammates to follow.
While the Mavericks stars rose to the occasion, the Clippers stars fell woefully flat. Ivica Zubac tied Paul George for the team lead with 15 points, while James Harden had only seven with seven assists. Off the bench, Russell Westbrook was ineffective as well, scoring six points with five rebounds.
Just how poorly did the Clippers available Big 3 play? They made NBA history for how inefficient they were on offense. According to OptaSTATS, the Clippers are the first team to have three 9+ time All-Stars play in a game and all make less than a third of their field goal attempts. George was the best of the bunch, shooting 4-of-13. Harden was 2-for-12, while Westbrook was 2-for-11.
That right there is why Los Angeles is now heading to Dallas down 3-2 in the series. Without their star players stepping up and setting the tone, the Clippers were flat at home and got nothing going on either end of the court.
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