George Leads Way as Mann, Westbrook Chip in to Trounce Mavericks
The Clippers emphatically routed the Mavericks despite being on the second night of a back-to-back.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — After suffering a heartbreaking defeat against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night where they rallied back from a 21-point first-quarter deficit to give themselves a chance late, the LA Clippers (7-8) got to face the Dallas Mavericks (10-6) with the possibility for redemption following a matchup two weeks ago that saw the Clippers get blown out in Texas.
Whether it was a five-night stay in the City of Angels that made life tougher on the Mavericks will never be fully known, but Dallas managed to shoot just 37.4 percent for the game while their superstar duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined for 56 points on 49 shots.
The Clippers led by double-digits for the final three quarters as they seemingly held every other Mavericks player to tough looks and tougher results, securing a 107-88 victory.
Paul George led the Clippers in scoring for the second straight night as he finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in 36 minutes.
Despite the Clippers’ recent November struggles — they’re 4-7 in the month — George hasn’t been too affected. Since the team’s loss in Dallas two weeks ago, George is averaging 27.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 46.7 percent shooting from the floor and 38.5 percent on 9.3 three-point attempts per game over those seven contests.
“Just opportunities,” George said postgame when asked about his aggression.
“Trying to be aggressive, staying in attack mode, and just understanding where this team is and what they need me to do and how I need to be one of the leaders on this team. And that's just applying pressure and that's just what gets me going and keeps me going — when I can be aggressive, get to the rim, and just try to make plays, that's when I'm at my best opposed to kind of just relaxing out there. So it's just the approach, it's been the approach going into every game is how can I be the best version of myself and just try to go dominate every night.”
Seven of George’s nine made shots came in the paint, an area of the floor where George is converting 60 percent of his attempts.
Aiding George in the victory were notably both Terance Mann and Russell Westbrook.
Mann started his fifth consecutive game and put forth his best outing in that time. The 27-year-old finished with a season-high 17 points to go with three rebounds, one assist, and one emphatic block on a fast break. Mann made seven of his 14 field goal attempts. The 14 tries were the most Mann has had in a game since Jan. 15, 2023, when he had 16 attempts against the Houston Rockets.
When asked postgame if the team engaged in any sort of conversations with Mann in regards to the versatile swingman potentially looking for his shot more, guard James Harden summed it up by saying it all comes down to “opportunities.”
“I think every game [is] different, presents itself or different matchups and different opportunities,” said Harden. “Tonight, he had opportunities where he got some open shots, some rim attacks, and some finishes. So, different guys are going to be more effective on different nights of the game. I think for us it's about winning and tonight was a good win for us.”
While Mann has moved into the starting spot that once belonged to Westbrook, the veteran guard has been a vocal proponent of Mann and constantly shares words of encouragement.
At one point in the first half, while Dallas was shooting free throws, Westbrook sprung up from the bench and walked along the sideline beckoning for Mann to come over. Mann walked from the other side of the floor, meeting Westbrook in front of the scorer’s table for a brief chat where it appeared Westbrook was doling out advice.
“Always tell him that nobody should be on the court playing harder than you,” Westbrook said postgame.
“That’s something I tell myself when I’m on the floor and I tell him the same thing, so any loose balls, rebound, defending, blocking shots, the ball will come to you when you play hard and you’re committed to defending and playing at a high rate and leaving everything you got on the floor. Good things will happen.”
For Mann, those good things happened early as he scored eight of his season-high 17 in the first quarter. All eight of those points came in the paint as Mann spearheaded a ferocious attack that saw the Clippers routinely find themselves near the rim.
“Missed and made shots are always part of the game,” Westbrook remarked. “People are going to miss shots. But one thing about it, you can never judge or take away somebody how hard they play, and Terance has the ability to do that every night and that’s what I challenge him to do.”
Westbrook himself rebounded from a dreadful Friday night performance to put in a stellar shift on Saturday.
The future Hall of Famer tallied 14 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in 25 minutes while leading a spurt in the fourth quarter that saw Westbrook pour in eight consecutive points for the Clippers to effectively put the game out of reach and see the Mavericks wave the white flag.
It hadn't been the best of stretches for Westbrook. In his five previous games, Westbrook had averaged just 7.4 points on a 34.7 True Shooting Percentage. Statistically, it was the worst five-game stretch of his career.
But Westbrook turned back the clock on Saturday, filling a specific role and knocking it out of the park.
“It's probably internally frustrating for him, you know what I mean, just because you want to start,” Harden opined after the game.
“But, I mean, I think tonight he did a really good job of embracing [the role] and coming out there and just playing some really good basketball, taking shots and attacking the rim when necessary and then making some really good passes as well. And then defensively just being active. So he did it tonight, he did a really good job.”
Kawhi Leonard struggled mightily from the field, finishing with just eight points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks as he connected on just two of his 12 attempts from the field. Leonard missed his first nine shots to start the game before sinking a baseline jumper late in the third quarter.
Ivica Zubac had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds in 23 minutes. Norman Powell supplied 15 points off the bench in an impressively efficient 4-for-4 shooting display. Daniel Theis scored five points and grabbed three rebounds in 16 minutes.
For his part, Harden was somewhat passive yet again, hoisting up just eight shots in 28 minutes. But the guard did have eight points, seven assists, four rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. Both of Harden's baskets were three-pointers.
“I'm not worried about me,” Harden told reporters in the locker room following the game. “I'm good enough and I'll put the work in enough on a day-to-day basis consistently to get going. So it's not about me. I'm worried about winning the game and tonight was a great example of that.”
Harden has taken 23 field goal attempts over the last three games, which is tied with Mann for fourth-most on the team in that span and just one more than Powell has taken. To put it fully into perspective: Harden has taken 23 shots over his last 101 minutes while Theis has attempted 20 in his 57 minutes.
The Clippers potentially need Harden to be more aggressive as a scorer as the days and games go by. It remains to be seen if that version of Harden is going to make an appearance for any prolonged period of time.
Mavericks guard Luka Doncic suffered a left hand injury 50 seconds into the game which required a hand wrap. Doncic said postgame that he underwent x-rays of his left thumb at halftime but doesn’t believe it’s broken. However, Doncic did go on to say that they will be doing more imaging when the team gets back to Dallas on Sunday.
The Clippers have now won four of their five games since the change in the starting lineup, and they welcome the defending champion Denver Nuggets (10-6) into town on Monday in what will be the second night of a back-to-back for Denver.
A win against the Nuggets would go a long way to remedying some of the psychological torment they suffered in a road loss nearly two weeks ago.
It would also get the Clippers back to .500.