“It Is What It Is Sometimes”: Mavericks Fall to Clippers as Poor Shooting, Turnovers and Injuries Take Toll

The Mavericks fell 114-91 to the Clippers as injuries, poor shooting, and turnovers dropped them into a tie with Sacramento for the West's No. 9 seed.

Photo: LA Clippers

The Dallas Mavericks arrived at Intuit Dome on Friday night hoping to take another step toward securing home-court advantage for the Western Conference Play-In Tournament. Instead, they endured one of their most lopsided losses of the season, falling 114-91 to the Los Angeles Clippers on the first night of a back-to-back.

Without Anthony Davis (left adductor injury management) and Dereck Lively II (ankle), the Mavericks were outmuscled, outshot, and overwhelmed by a Clippers team now winning 13 of its last 16 games. Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points in just 24 minutes, Ivica Zubac added 14 points and 13 rebounds, and the Clippers held Dallas to 20% shooting from three (4-of-20) and forced 18 turnovers.

“I thought last year, he was great, too,” Clippers’ coach Ty Lue said of Leonard. “I don’t know how many games he played last year, but I thought there was a stretch where we were, like, 29-5 or whatever, and he was playing some of the best basketball I’ve seen him play. And now getting back to that point again this late in the season is really good for us.”

Dallas drops to 38-40, now tied in the loss column with Sacramento. The Kings hold the tiebreaker, meaning the Mavericks are temporarily on the outside looking in when it comes to hosting the 9-vs-10 play-in game.

Mavs Outgunned Early as Clippers Set the Tone