Paul George had 25 points and nine rebounds, Terance Mann added 17 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks 107-88 on Saturday night for their fourth victory in five games.
James Harden had just eight points and seven assists, while Kawhi Leonard missed his first nine shots before finishing with eight points for the Clippers, who didn’t need their four stars to shine. Russell Westbrook had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but the Clippers largely dominated, with only George scoring consistently in a comfortable win over the normally high-scoring Mavericks.
“That’s the beauty of this team,” said Harden, whose only field goals were two 3-pointers. “Every night we have guys that can step up and contribute, whether it’s scoring or other things. For us, as a group, the only thing that matters is winning. Either way, there will be different ways, different nights. Tonight we did a really good job of playing basketball in four quarters.
Mann stepped up as a starter with his highest-scoring game of the season, and Norman Powell added 15 points with three 3-pointers as the Clippers rebounded from a home defeat against New Orleans a night earlier with another exhibition of the many ways they can win since adding Harden to a talent-rich roster.
Westbrook also responded well after playing a season-low 14 minutes against New Orleans.
“It’s definitely a big win for us, especially after last night,” Westbrook said. “No matter what time I’m on the field, my job is to make sure that as soon as I arrive, we expand our lead or build it.”
Luka Doncic scored 30 points and Kyrie Irving had 26 for the Mavs, who had the last two days off in Los Angeles after beating the Lakers Wednesday. Dallas had its lowest performance of the season for its second straight game, failing to score 100 points for the first time.
“They were physical from the start, (and) we didn’t shoot the ball well,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “We didn’t go out and run like we talked about on this trip. When we got small, that was really the first time we got a 3 in transition. We’ll go back and look at that and understand the physicality that the Clippers started the game with.
George scored 15 points as Los Angeles took an 18-point lead in the first half. Doncic scored 17 points in the second quarter, keeping it close when the Clippers threatened to pull away.
Dallas missed 13 straight shots while going scoreless for more than 5 1/2 minutes in the third quarter, allowing the Clippers to take a 24 lead.
Leonard missed his first nine shots before finally hitting a baseline jumper late in the third quarter. He finished 2 of 12, missing all five of his 3-point attempts.
Leonard has yet to miss a single game this season after playing in just 161 of the Clippers’ 308 regular-season games during his first four years in Los Angeles due to injuries and precautionary rest. Although Clippers coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged that Leonard could have missed one of those back-to-back games in previous seasons, he dismissed the idea that Leonard might struggle with the grind of the NBA.
“I have no concerns,” Lue said. “If he needs time off, he will let us know, as will the medical department. He feels good at the moment.
Mavs center Dereck Lively missed the game after injuring his lower back in a fall against the Lakers, and Ivica Zubac had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Clippers.
Doncic appeared to injure his hand in the first minute, grimacing as he returned to defense, but he remained in the game. He was 1 of 8 on 3-point attempts.
FOLLOWING
Mavericks: Host Houston Tuesday night.
Clippers: Host Denver Monday night.
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