'Humble Confidence': Mavs vs. Clippers GAMEDAY Game 3 Preview
The Dallas Mavericks responded with a tremendous performance to even their series with the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. Now, the Mavericks must absorb what will certainly be a body blow from the Clippers in Game 3 of their best-of-seven NBA Playoff series on Friday night.
How they respond could influence the direction of the entire series. If winning Game 2 was about not falling into an 0-2 hole in the Bubble, then Game 3 is about laying some pipeline toward potentially clinching the series. And that goes for both teams.
"Humble confidence'' is how Kristaps Porzingis characterized the Mavs mood moving forward.
Said Luka Doncic: “Any series that we’re going to go into, we’re going to believe (we can win it), for sure. If you don’t believe it, you’re not supposed to be here, so you’d better believe it.”
READ MORE: Trigg - Mavs Donuts: 'You'd Better Believe It'
And indeed, both the Mavericks and Clippers are well-positioned to assert themselves in Game 3. The Clippers, despite the loss, still have two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who dumped in 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds two nights after leading the Clippers in their Game 1 victory with 29 points and 12 rebounds.
But the loss of guard Patrick Beverley to injury in Game 2 certainly had an impact, especially on the defensive end. Beverley played 20 minutes in Game 1 and contributed to a Clippers effort that forced 21 Mavs turnovers. Beverley did not play in Game 2 due to a left calf strain and the Mavs only committed nine turnovers. Given that Beverley is considered one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, that’s not a coincidence.
Beverley has, 90 minutes before Friday’s game, been ruled OUT. Reggie Jackson assumed Beverley’s starting spot on Wednesday, as he played 26 minutes and scored 11 points, but had no steals. To underscore Beverley’s importance, he had two steals in his 20 minutes in Game 1. Lou Williams and Jackson have combined for two steals in two games.
If Beverley can’t play, expect either Jackson or Williams in the starting lineup, along with Leonard, guard Paul George (who scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds in Game 2), center Ivica Zubac and forward Marcus Morris.
The Mavs should be at full strength. Per the NBA’s injury report, forward Kristaps Porzingis (who has dealt with knee and heel soreness) and guard Trey Burke (ankle) are considered probable. Porzingis was probable for Wednesday’s Game 2 and ended up with 23 points and seven rebounds. He also avoided ejection, which happened in Game 1 after he had two technical fouls.
But, like Game 1, the Mavs were short-handed at times as Luka Doncic battled foul trouble throughout the second half. In this case, the Mavs’ bench came through. Burke had 16 points, guard Seth Curry had 15 points and center Boban Marjanovic had 13 points and nine rebounds.
In fact, the Mavs bench scored 47 points in Game 2 while scoring 24 points in Game 1, with Porzingis missing most of the second half in Game 1.
But even with a 10-minute downturn in playing time from Game 1 to Game 2, Doncic still managed make history on Wednesday evening.
The previous post-merger record was 69 points held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He’s just the league’s all-time leading scorer. That’s all.
So, to Game 3 we go.
THE LOOK-BACK
Our Richie Whitt had the gamer for the Mavs’ win on Wednesday night. Remember — it was the Mavs’ first playoff win in more than four years.
Before Game 2, our Bri Amaranthus got you up to date on sleeping arrangements in the Bubble. I know that sounds weird, but wait until you read about the ‘touch of home’ each player brought with them to the Grand Floridian Resort.
Our Matt Galatzan stayed up late Wednesday night exploring whether this series is ‘winnable’ for the Mavs (oh it is, and the Mavs think so, too).
Our Dalton Trigg wrote our Donuts, 12 bite-sized pieces of news on the Mavs on Thursday morning. If we missed anything in Richie’s gamer, you can bet it’s in here.
Finally, Galatzan and Trigg got together for our Game 2 Step Back Mavs podcast, in which they broke down the win and looked ahead to Game 3.
Oh, and BY THE WAY, Matt and Dalton want you to know the following:
Once we reach 1,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel, we can bring you live broadcast emergency podcasts when Luka does something crazy or if the Mavs end up trading for a high-profile player in the offseason.
By taking 10 seconds to hit that 'subscribe' button, it automatically enters you for a chance to win two tickets to any Mavs game of your choice (whenever fans are allowed to attend games again, that is) when we reach our goal of 1,000 subscribers. We're over halfway there, so sign up while you can!
WHY GAME 3 MATTERS
In a normal NBA postseason, Game 3 represents the first court switch. The higher-seeded team has to go on the road and has to deal with the lower-seeded team’s crowd. In a perfect world, that would mean Game 3 would be at the American Airlines Center in Dallas in front of a sellout crowd of more than 19,000.
But this isn’t a perfect world.
It’s basically a neutral court (even though the hometown ads on the court try to tell you differently). So there’s no true home-court advantage this year. But, there is still an advantage in winning Game 3. If Game 1 is about setting the tone and Game 2 is about punching back if you’re down, Game 3 is about making the move toward clinching the series. The winner gets the 2-1 series lead and the chance to capitalize on that with a potential win in Game 4. The winner on Friday night gets a chance to take complete control of the series two days later.
QUOTABLE
“You’ve got to live in the present and you’ve got to understand that these types of challenges in playoff series are going to happen and they’re going to happen to younger teams. You’ve got to experience what this is all about with the emotions and so forth. ... We’re looking forward to this opportunity. This is really great for our guys.” - Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle
NUMBER TO KNOW: Nine.
Remember in Game 1 when the Mavs had 21 turnovers, which was nearly nine turnovers more than they averaged in the regular season? Remember I wrote that’s the kind of stuff that drives head coach Rick Carlisle nuts? Well, this is why you pay Carlisle the big bucks. He gets his team refocused and gets them to protect the basketball to the tune of nine turnovers in Game 2.
Luka Doncic obviously got the message. His quote after Game 2 must have been music to Carlisle’s ears.
“That was the only thing I looked up,” Doncic said. “(I had) one turnover — it was great, that’s what I was looking for. It’s 10 possessions more than the last game, so that’s one of the reasons we won.”
By the way, Doncic had 11 turnovers in Game 1.
BOBAN BEING BOBAN
Because it’s just too much fun watching Boban Marjanovic’s Game 2 interview with the TNT crew again and again, right?
Oh, and here's Fish on the chances of Boban doing it again tonight ...
READ MORE: Can Boban Again Help Mavs Over Clippers? 'Nice Guys Finish First'
Western Conference Playoffs, Round 1
Game Time: 8 p.m. CT Friday
Location: Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando
TV/Radio: Fox Sports Southwest, Mavs.com, ESPN 103.3 FM, TNT
Series Schedule, Results
Game 1: Clippers 118, Mavericks 110
Game 2: Mavericks 127, Clippers 114 (series tied, 1-1)
Game 3: Friday, 8 p.m., TNT
Game 4: Sunday, 2:30 p.m., ABC
Game 5: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 8 p.m.
Game 6: Thursday, Aug. 27, ESPN, time TBD (if necessary)
Game 7: Saturday, Aug. 29, TNT, time TBD (if necessary)
