The Clippers picked the worst possible time to get ice-cold Tuesday night.
Los Angeles missed eight shots in a row during the fourth quarter while Dallas went on a game-changing 14-0 run. Four of the missed shots came on one possession, while the Clippers settled for jump shots in a brutal 4:26 stretch.
12-0 MAVS RUN ‼️ https://t.co/OnVPstsGCQ pic.twitter.com/Ab5Uin5pzf
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2024
After the Irving triple gave Dallas a six-point lead, Kawhi Leonard missed another jumper. Norman Powell and Russell Westbrook combined for three offensive rebounds — and three missed putbacks. Irving followed with another bucket to go up eight.
While the Clippers were throwing up bricks, the Mavericks were nailing threes, including a go-ahead triple from Doncic over Kawhi Leonard.
Luka sinks the triple and is HYPED ️ pic.twitter.com/I8fySTaGGB
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 24, 2024
It's the first win of the season for the Mavericks when they scored fewer than 100 points, having lost their other eight games.
It's a testament to their greatly-improved defense since a midseason trade added P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, though the team leaned on rookie Dereck Lively and Maxi Kleber at center most of the game.
Arguably the return of Leonard also helped discombobulate the Clippers offense. Playing his first game since March 31, Leonard led the Clippers with 17 shots, but only turned it into 15 points, after going 0-for-5 from three-point range. He did nearly cut the Mavericks' lead to two points late, before a replay review overturned Kyrie Irving's foul on him.
Kawhi Leonard scores through contact to cut the deficit 93-90 with 20 seconds left in the 4th quarter of Game 2 on TNT! pic.twitter.com/Bn1XBgwDCZ
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2024
The Clippers got as close as three points on two separate occasions after Dallas' monster run, three if you count Paul George's meaningless three-point at the buzzer to make the final score 96-93.
But in a battle of two closely-matched teams, four minutes can determine the outcome of a game. Or even a playoff series.
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