Mavs Donuts: Can Luka, Porzingis and Dallas Turn Around 'Terrible'?
Sunday’s GAME 4 result: Los Angeles Clippers 106, Dallas Mavericks 81 ... and we've got Mavs Donuts ...
DONUT 1: TABLES TRAGICALLY TURNED And just like that, a series the Mavs seemed like they couldn’t lose feels hopelessly un-winnable.
READ MORE: 'Pain in the Neck': Clippers Crush Luka Doncic's Mavs, Tie Series
I know it’s 2-2, but the vibe is Clippers 3-0.
DONUT 2: LUKA LEAKING He may not be seriously injured, but no doubt Luka Doncic is in severe pain. With black athletic tape on his neck and left shoulder, he was wholly mortal. He winced in agony after throwing cross-court passes, front-rimmed several shots and generally lacked the juice that fueled him to dominating the first three games.
At times he moved more like the Dallas Cowboys’ No. 77, 6-foot-5, 320-pound Tyron Smith.
“I don’t think that matters right now,'' said Doncic, deflecting questions about the injury after a game in which he shot 9-of-24 to get his 19 points. "We lost by 20 and injuries are part of basketball. I was 100 percent, but I played terrible.''
Obviously, he wasn't 100 percent. And unless he is ... this sort of game might be the result.
DONUT 3: TO THREE OR NOT TO THREE After making 17, 18 and 20 3-pointers in the first three games, the Mavs went collectively cold. They made only 5 of 30.
Problem for this team is there really is no legitimate Plan B. Rick Carlisle inserted Boban Marjanovic and Trey Burke in an attempt to disrupt L.A.’s flow. But, let’s face it, if the Mavs make only 17 percent of their 3s they are extremely vulnerable.
DONUT 4: SILVER LINING? Can’t blame this blowout on Kristaps Porzingis. He took and made jumpers on his first two touches to jump the Mavs to a 4-0 lead and was generally aggressive, even diving on the floor for a loose ball. He finished with 19 points.
Still, Dallas was outscored by 21 points with him on the court during his 28 minutes.
DONUT 5: BIG MAN, LITTLE DIFFERENCE American Airlines Center went nuts when Carlisle inserted Boban midway through the first quarter. The Clippers went with a small lineup without center Ivica Zubac, so the Mavs countered with the biggest player in the NBA. It paid immediate dividends as Boban scored on a transition layup.
But when the Clippers put him in the pick-and-roll, the 7-foot-7 giant was defenseless against Nicolas Batum’s dribble drives to the hoop.
Again, no Plan B.
DONUT 6: HOME SOUR HOME This series makes absolutely no sense. Mavs won the first two game in L.A. in front of cardboard cutouts. Clippers come to Dallas and take two despite 17,000 frenzied humans. Reminds of 2005’s quirky first round when the Mavs lost the first two games at home to the Houston Rockets, and then won Games 3 and 4 in Houston before taking the series in Game 7 by 40 points at AAC.
By the way, last time the Mavs lost a series they led 2-0 was, yep, the 2006 NBA Finals. Sorry.
DONUT 7: DFW DOWNER Texas Rangers lost Sunday in Seattle for their team-record 12th consecutive road defeat. Dallas guy Jordan Spieth coughed up a final-round lead to finish second at Colonial. And, yeah, the Mavs.
But, hey, Happy(?) Memorial Day!
DONUT 8: L.A. LANDSLIDE A running theme in this series the last two years: When the Clippers get rolling, the Mavs generally have no answers. In last Summer’s series the Clippers won Games 5 and 6 by 43 and 14 points. In Friday’s Game 3 they outscored Dallas by 29 in the final 42 minutes and in Game 4 they led comfortably by 20-plus points the entire second half.
READ MORE: How 'Small-Ball' Is Beating Mavs
Said Rick: “They’ve got two great players that are just putting their heads down and basically trying to go through us. ... The first two games we won were very high-scoring games. We scored a lot. They scored one game 121, the other game they scored 123 — those are high-scoring games.
"We’ve just got to keep stepping into them with force. And we’ve got to work on the defense. (Kawhi) Leonard (29 points) is a great player. (Paul) George (20) is a great player. They’ve got great shooting. It’s a challenge.''
DONUT 9: BEVERLY’S BENCHING Give Clippers coach Tyronn Lue some credit. This series turned when Patrick Beverly was demoted into a sideline towel-waver and the bigger, more offensive-minded Reggie Jackson started making 3-pointers.
DONUT 10: LUKA MAGIC, ER, TRAGIC No way around it, Doncic has the yips at the free-throw line.
Despite extra work on the shot after practice and before the game, he went 0 of 5 and has now missed 19 in the series.
For perspective, during his team’s 21-game postseason run to the 2011 title Dirk Nowitzki missed only 11 free throws (176 of 187, 94 percent).
Did the nerve/neck issue impact Luka's work here? That seems obvious ...
“The pain is in my neck and with my nerves,'' he said. "I don’t really know how to explain that. It felt way better today and this morning than it did yesterday. I will just keep doing massages and icing it down and I will be ready for Wednesday.”
DONUT 11: BOTTOMING OUT The 81 points are the fewest scored by the Mavs in a playoff game since a 108-70 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016.
DONUT 12: THE FINAL WORD Best thing about this game is that it comes a full three days before Game 5.
Overall,'' said KP, "we know we can do a better job on both ends. ... It’s, 'OK, onto the next one.”
OK. But ... these Mavs, now tied 2-2 in the series, need all the time they can get to heal, both physically and psychologically.
