About last night... Game 2 v Clippers

 Last night Luka, Porzingis, and the Mavs grabbed their first postseason win in a Game 2 against the Clippers. The first playoff victory for the Mavs since that 2016 game against the Thunder, and the first of KP & Luka's career. Expect a lot more of those. This 127-114 win came in dominating fashion as Dallas never let the Clippers take a lead all game. Even with Luka sidelined due to foul trouble, the rest of the team was able to hold it down. "This is how we are going to have to win games," Carlisle stated. "Our depth is going to be a big part of it." 

Carlisle echoed what I had pointed out in a Bubble preview a few weeks ago. It was something along the lines of "If Luka & KP are on we are tough to beat... If you add Seth and THJ scoring well to that, we can beat anybody." That's exactly what happened last night. Porzingis and Luka combined for 51 and Seth and THJ combined for 32. Perfect. Additionally, Boban and Trey Burke were incredible, scoring 13 and 16 respectively.

Consistency 

The biggest thing for Dallas last night was consistency on both ends. On offense, they would never settle for jumpers. If it wasn't falling someone would make a play or Carlisle would call a timeout. This was able to keep the Clippers at bay, even after they would go on runs. Sure, in the fourth it got a bit crazy. The Clippers were able to shrink the 18 point Dallas lead to 10 and had tons of opportunities to cut into that. There's gotta be a little luck on your side to win these things. 

Maxi 

After a terrible game one, Maxi came through. He justified Rick's decision to start him as he played great defense on Kawhi; limiting him to .866 PPP. Kawhi missed some shots he usually makes and he still scored a game-high 35, but it's hard to ignore the defensive impact Maxi had last night. He is getting more comfortable and confident out there!

Boban, Burke, and Curry 

I cannot stress enough how good these guys were last night. Trey Burke flew around the court looking like Jason Terry crossed with AI. He was that good. He scored 16 pts in 18 min. and although he didn't hit his lone three-point attempt, he has shown that in 1on1 situations he can score on anybody. 

Boban almost nullifies Harrell. It's clear Carlisle loves the matchup. In only 10 minutes he scored 13 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and was a +12. His contributions helped the Mavs extend their lead in the second quarter, and gave KP some needed rest. As Kenny the Jet said last night, "He did his job!" YOU RANG!? 

Seth Curry was incredible. He saved the Mavs in the fourth when Luka was sent to the bench with 5 fouls and a ton of time left. Seth went on a solo 7 point run, hitting a step back over Kawhi. It was huge and the box score showed it. Seth was a + 30 overall. To put that in perspective, the only other Mav to be +30 in the playoffs was none other than Dirk in Game 4 of the 2009 playoffs vs the Lakers. Thanks, Seth. 

It's frustrating to think that the Mavericks should be up 2-0 in the series, but I don't think the team is. If anything, they are more confident. "We've jsut gotta win 3 more..." Luka added after the game. The league has been put on notice after last night. These Mavericks aren't just a stepping stone to a title, they are legit contenders. 

Some quick hits: 

Luka is shooting over 80% on freethrows this series, and knocking down his 3 at a 46% clip. Little things showing up big. 

The Mavericks only turned it over 9 times, Luka only once. 

The Mavs held the clippers to 29% from behind the arc. Outside of Kawhi, they were ICE cold. 

Playoff P hahahahaahahahahaa