Clippers most to blame for season-ending Game 6 loss to Mavericks

04/05/2024 07:47

On Sunday afternoon, it seemed as though the Los Angeles Clippers had turned the momentum in their favor. They pulled off an epic Game 4 victory as they staved off a 31-point comeback from the Dallas Mavericks, and with homecourt advantage back on their side, they had a legitimate chance to advance to the second round despite not having Kawhi Leonard. Alas, that all proved to be false hope.

They lost the plot in Game 5 en route to a franchise-worst loss at home (123-93), and they proceeded to follow that one up with a disappointing performance in Game 6, particularly in the second half, as the Mavericks ran out to a 114-101 victory that isn’t as close as the final score line would suggest. This marks the end of another short Clippers playoff run that, once again, started out with a ton of hope and yet ended in another heartbreak.

The frustrations keep on piling up for perhaps the most snake-bitten franchise in NBA history. With their backs against the wall, the Clippers went out with a whimper, and their remaining stars simply couldn’t get them over the hump. These are the players who are to blame for the Clippers’ season-ending loss to the Mavericks.

It’s time to have that conversation about Paul George

The Clippers brought Paul George via trade back in 2019 at Kawhi Leonard’s behest; George was coming off a third-place finish in the MVP race as he performed his 3 and D, shot-creation duties to its archetype’s apex. Bringing in George and Leonard in 2019 vaulted the Clippers to championship contention; five years in, and all they have to show for it is one Western Conference Finals appearance.

Now, injuries have been the primary thorn in the Clippers’ side. Apart from their horrific choke job in the bubble that is better off forgotten in franchise lore, they have endured injury after injury to their stars that have limited their ceiling come playoff time. But now, the Clippers have to address the difficult question of whether or not George is the right guy for them to fill that number two role.

A cursory look at George’s skillset and demeanor shows that he is; he is one of the best threats in the league off the ball, and he could make plays off the bounce if need be. He has proven, particularly in 2021, that he could help lead a shorthanded group of guys and help them perform on a much better level than the sum of their parts would indicate.

But the Clippers, of all teams, are familiar with how the absence of a star player affects a team’s championship hopes. To that end, the Clippers must have some sort of contingency plan to deal with this problem. Kawhi Leonard has a degenerative knee issue, and more likely than not, he won’t be around at some point in the season — backing the Clippers into a corner.

Thus, the Clippers must have a number two guy who is capable of weathering the storm and holding the fort in Leonard’s absence. George, simply put, may not be that guy. After his incredible Game 4, George has struggled immensely. The Mavericks defense swallowed him up whole; often, he couldn’t get separation from Derrick Jones Jr., and he even had his shot blocked a few times.

This cannot happen; George made $45 million this year while Jones was signed by the Mavericks to the veteran minimum. Sure, what someone is making isn’t the be-all, end-all of value in the NBA, but with a bigger salary comes bigger expectations, and George cannot allow himself to be slowed down the way Jones did nearly all series long.

George may have finished Game 6 as his team’s leading scorer, with 18 points, but he did so on 6-18 shooting from the field. And the heavy workload made George breathe heavily at times. He was late to a few defensive rotations, and he was a bit lethargic on a few chances to haul in a defensive rebound. In the fourth quarter, he allowed PJ Washington run by him and get the rebound after a missed three, which then led to a Kyrie Irving triple.

He may be perfectly fine as the third wheel, and he seems to be at his best when playing alongside an ensemble cast. In the 2021 NBA playoffs, George showed out because his teammates, primarily Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris, were firing on all cylinders as well. He was flanked by solid defenders at every position too, which allowed him to shine.

It may be disappointing that this is George’s ceiling. After all, his flashes of greatness has instilled hope that he can, indeed, flourish in a lead role or excel in a Robin to one’s Batman scenario. But as heartbreaking as the Clippers’ first-round exit may be amid George’s inability to fill Leonard’s shoes, it might be time to start judging George on a different scale instead.

Clippers get haunted by their biggest weakness

The Clippers’ roster construction throughout the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era has prioritized wing depth and guard play. The same was the case this season. In trading for James Harden, the Clippers’ big men group got even thinner as they traded away the four power forwards on their roster in that deal.

Thus, all season long, the Clippers struggled with containing the glass. Ivica Zubac has done his part most of the time for the Clippers, but he’s still just one man. Against the Mavericks, Zubac had to navigate plenty of pick-and-rolls, even doing as well as he has on Luka Doncic in years. He then has to worry about the lob threat when Doncic gets to the paint, and top that off, he has to clean up the glass as well.

This burden has proven to be too heavy for Zubac. The Mavericks made it a point of emphasis to crash the offensive glass, and the Clippers paid dearly for it. When they were getting stops, all the Mavs did was get another chance to put the ball through the hoop. Dallas had 10 offensive boards in the first quarter alone, which is the most a team has gotten in the playoffs in 17 years.

Given how difficult the Clippers have found it all series long to generate offense in the halfcourt, it was backbreaking for them not to finish their defensive stops. This prevented them from generating offense in semi-transition and attacking potential cross-matches.

Even Russell Westbrook, perhaps the greatest guard rebounder in league history, failed to make much of a dent on the glass. Mason Plumlee wasn’t too helpful as well, and this inability to contain the boards forced Paul George to expend more energy to try and cover for this weakness.

The Clippers will have to address this weakness, although it has to be said that a healthy Kawhi Leonard would have covered up for a lot of their deficiencies.

Perimeter defense was shoddy

The Clippers put up some solid stretches of defense against the Mavericks; but in the end, the Mavericks’ defenders were much better than the Clippers’, and this simply cannot happen when Dallas already has more offensive firepower than LA courtesy of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Officiating may have played a hand in the Clippers’ soft perimeter defense; at times, the Clippers were being whistled for ticky-tack fouls while the Mavericks had all the leeway in the world to be handsy on the defensive end. Irving certainly got away with plenty of bumps and holds.

But the Clippers allow penetration much more easily than the Mavericks do. When Doncic and Irving get to the paint, good things happen for the Mavericks, and it puts the Clippers at such a tough spot on both ends of the floor. LA has struggled to defend without fouling nearly all series long, and in Game 6, they were either too aggressive (fouling) or too passive (allowing penetration) and it led to their downfall.

Again, a healthy Kawhi Leonard would have covered for a lot of the team’s flaws throughout Game 6. But that is another discussion for another time.

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