LOS ANGELES — The Clippers had been in this spot before.
They had been without Kawhi Leonard — out Sunday with knee inflammation — for 14 games this season, including the last eight. They also had played the schedule-disrupting matinee game before, this was their 12th one of the season.
The Clippers were comfortable and prepared — and they came out playing their most physical basketball in months. It knocked the Mavericks back on their heels from the opening tip. Dallas expected a heavy dose of James Harden and Paul George, but first they got a lot of Ivica Zubac posting up and overwhelming them inside.
“It kinda threw us for a little bit of a loop when they started off the game with him posting up,” Kyrie Irving said.
“I didn’t come ready to play. I have to be better,” said Daniel Gafford, the Dallas center tasked with the Zubac assignment. Gafford picked up two quick fouls and was out, and Dallas never found a good answer for Zubac, who finished with 20 points.
It wasn’t just Zubac, the Clippers came out firing on all cylinders — James Harden had 11 first-quarter points on 4-of-5 shooting, and Los Angeles as a team started 6-8 from 3. That early tone turned into a 34-22 lead after one quarter, then Los Angeles started the second quarter on a 6-0 run. Eventually in that second quarter, and especially in the second half, the Mavericks settled in and found their groove, but it was too little, too late.
The Clippers held on for a 109-97 win at home, which puts them up 1-0 in this first-round series. Game 2 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
James Harden turned back the clock with 20 first-half points, hitting 4-6 from 3, with four assists. He finished with 28 points and eight assists. Russell Westbrook had 13 points on the night and the Clippers duo combined for the highlight of the night.
HARDEN UP TO RUSS.
— NBA (@NBA) April 21, 2024
30-9 CLIPPERS RUN IN GAME 1.
📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/IjndZ0chfI
The overwhelming Clippers early physicality was more than Zubac in the post, it carried through to the defensive end, where L.A. looked like the high level defensive team from before the All-Star break.
“That was our game plan coming in,” Tyrone Lue said. “T-Mann [Terrance Mann] and Amir [Coffey] just picking up full court. Just giving Luka [Doncic] different looks to try and wear him down because he is a great player. You have to throw different looks at him. You have to play hard, compete. He’s going tomake some tough shots as we saw tonight but just make it hard and make him work for it.”
That strategy worked. As a team Dallas shot just 38.8% for the game and were 10-of-33 from 3 (30.3%). Luka Doncic got his (33 points, 13 rebounds) and so did Irving with 31 points. The problem was the rest of the Mavericks combined scored just 33 points on 27.8% shooting.
“I don’t think that we came out very flat or without energy, I just think that our mind was all over the place,” Irving said. “It’s our first playoff game together. [We] gotta settle in, and once we did that in the second half, and I felt like we put some stops together, we got some great offensive possessions and our confidence in started to get a little higher.”
As noted, the Clippers did all this without Kawhi Leonard, who was officially ruled out just 90 minutes before Game 1. This wasn’t
a surprise, as he has not played since March 31 due to knee inflammation. Considering he has yet to go through a full-contact practice with the team, it’s unlikely he will be available for Game 2 on Tuesday. Game 3 is on Friday in Dallas.
Postgame, the Mavericks were searching for positives — they settled down, got a few more stops, hit a few more shots and won the second half by 13 points. They believe they can carry those things over to Game 2.
But Game 1 belonged to the Clippers, who will not just roll over without Leonard.
