The Dallas Mavericks have not won at American Airlines Center since Jan. 22. Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers is their next chance to change that — and Los Angeles arrives shorthanded.
Kawhi Leonard is listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain. The Clippers did not hold a shootaround Saturday, making pregame warmups his first opportunity to test it. Leonard sat out Thursday after scoring 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds in his return from a one-game absence the night before — his ankle clearly still a factor. Without him, Los Angeles fell 105-99 to New Orleans as Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22, John Collins added 18, and the Clippers blew a 94-91 lead late, allowing a 14-5 run to close the game. It was their fourth straight loss. Los Angeles is 4-12 without him this season.
Bradley Beal (left hip fracture), Bennedict Mathurin (right toe injury), and Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (right Lisfranc ligament tear) are all out for the Clippers.
In 54 appearances, Leonard is averaging 28.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 50.4% from the field. He has been the most difficult individual matchup in the Western Conference when healthy, and coach Jason Kidd and guard Max Christie made clear Friday that the Clippers present problems well beyond one player.
“Kawhi is the first and foremost problem for everybody,” Christie said. “He’s playing at such an elite level, and the Clippers as a team — the turnaround they’ve had has been really impressive.”
Kidd didn’t soften it either.
“When Kawhi gets going, it’s very hard to stop him,” Kidd said. “They’re a veteran ball club. They’re very good in transition, very good defensively with their length. So we’ve got to be able to move the ball and take care of it.”
Los Angeles arrives ninth in the Western Conference at 34-36, averaging 119.5 points over its last 10 games. Dallas has allowed 123.2 points per game in that same span while going 2-8.
Dallas Mavericks Motivated to Fix the Defense
Switching breakdowns have been a season-long issue, and both Kidd and Christie called it out directly heading into Saturday.
“We’ve got to be better protecting the paint,” Kidd said. “There’s too many guys getting behind our switching. That leads to paint scores, offensive rebounds, or wide-open threes.”
Christie was blunt about where things stand.
“Our defense has been pretty poor recently,” Christie said. “That was a big emphasis in the film session — our physicality, our effort on the defensive end, and obviously the X’s and O’s. That’s where it starts.”
The Clippers shoot 48.3% from the field this season. Darius Garland has averaged 2.5 made threes over his last 10 games. Dallas cannot load up on Leonard and leave the perimeter open.
“Their supporting cast is capable, too,” Christie said. “So it’s about communication, physicality, and effort.”
Ball Security and Offensive Flow
Dallas committed 18 turnovers against Atlanta on Wednesday. The Clippers average 11.1 steals per game over their last 10 and thrive in transition off live-ball mistakes.
Ryan Nembhard‘s 12-assist, zero-turnover performance Wednesday offers a blueprint. When Dallas is clean with the ball, the offense flows. Christie pointed to spacing and paint touches as the offensive priorities coming out of Friday’s practice.
“Offensively, we worked on spacing, finding ways to touch the paint more, generating more threes, and just having better flow and continuity,” Christie said.
The small-ball lineup with P.J. Washington at center has been a significant part of what has opened things up, and Christie credited him for making it work.
“P.J. has been phenomenal in that lineup,” Christie said. “His ability to shoot has really stretched defenses out. When the ball is popping and flowing, it allows for easy baskets at the rim or on the perimeter.”
Cooper Flagg enters averaging 16.8 points over his last 10 games. In the teams’ last meeting Nov. 30 — a 114-110 Dallas win — he posted 35. Klay Thompson, returning from injury, gives the Mavericks a spacing threat whose presence alone opens driving lanes.
Injury Report for LA Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks
For Dallas, Brandon Williams (concussion protocol), Kyrie Irving (left knee surgery), and Dereck Lively II (right foot surgery) are all out. Caleb Martin is questionable with a right heel contusion. G League two-way players Moussa Cissé, John Poulakidas, and Tyler Smith are also listed as questionable.
Los Angeles will be without Bradley Beal (left hip fracture), Bennedict Mathurin (right toe injury), and Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (right Lisfranc ligament tear). Leonard remains questionable with the ankle.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center.
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