The Dallas Mavericks (38-40) got curb-stomped on their home floor in the first of a back-to-back set against the Los Angeles Clippers (45-32), 114-91, at American Airlines Center on Friday. They just couldn’t find any offense against the Clippers, whose 109.3 defensive rating entering play Friday was good for third-best in the NBA.
Dallas shot 0-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half despite getting decent looks, and this one was over early despite the late start. The Mavs all but packed it in for the second half, putting all their eggs in Saturday’s basket, as the two teams prepare to do it all over again. Kahwi Leonard led six Clippers in double figures with 20 points in just 23 minutes in Friday’s win over the Mavericks.
Here’s how the Mavs graded out individually in a thoroughly uninspiring loss with just four regular-season games left on the schedule.
Spencer Dinwiddie: B
18 Points / 3 Rebounds / 4 Assists (29 Minutes)
Dinwiddie missed his first four 3-point attempts in Friday’s lopsided loss before making one from the left wing with 7:15 left in the third. He got going a little in the third quarter to finish the night 7-of-13 from the field.
Klay Thompson: INC
2 Points (13 Minutes)
Klay Thompson left with an illness in the third quarter of Friday’s give-up loss and did not return. He went 1-of-3 from the field and missed his only 3-point attempt in the first half.
Naji Marshall: A-
21 Points / 3 Rebounds / 4 Assists / 1 Steal (35 Minutes)
Marshall was the only Maverick with any real shooting volume who managed better than 50% from the field (4-of-7) in the first half, leading a putrid Dallas offense with eight points at the break. Most of the nice plays he made in the second half came in fourth-quarter garbage time, but he finished 8-of-14 (57.1%) from the floor.
Daniel Gafford: C-
4 Points / 5 Rebounds / 1 Steal (19 Minutes)
Without Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II in the lineup, Gafford and the rest of the Mavericks frontcourt surrendered nine rebounds (four offensive) to Ivica Zubac in the first quarter as the Clippers built a 29-16 lead. He remains a solid lob threat, though, and got tough in the lane with Zubac as the third quarter wound down to come up with a steal that led to two free throws from Cormac Karl “Max” Christie.
Max Christie: C+
11 Points / 6 Rebounds / 1 Assists (34 Minutes)
Christie was absent on offense in the first half and was uninspired on the defensive end as well. Norman Powell gave Christie the cold shoulder on his way to the hoop on the first half’s final possession to put the Clippers ahead 58-35. He shot just 1-of-6 from the field in the first half and followed it up with 3-of-8 in the second half. He did nail the Mavericks’ first 3-pointer of the game early in the third, though, before driving in for a clever little lay-in a minute later.
Jaden Hardy: C+
16 Points / 5 Rebound / 5 Assists / 2 Steals (29 Minutes)
Hardy didn’t turn into a turnover machine until the second half of Friday’s loss, but that’s not really a point in his favor. He drove through the teeth of the Clipper defense with 4:10 left in the second quarter for a tough score over Zubac to make it 48-25, but to be honest, the outcome had already been decided by that point. Hardy also missed all four of his 3-point attempts in the loss. He gave the ball away to Kawhi Leonard, who went coast-to-coast for the ensuing score early in the third. Hardy left the game late in the fourth quarter after twisting an ankle, which has become a recurring issue for him lately.
Caleb Martin: D-
0 Points / 1 Rebound / 1 Assist / 1 Steal (15 Minutes)
It was more of the frustrating standard set for Martin in Friday’s loss to the Clippers. He was nearly nonexistent on the stat sheet. His presence accounted for basically nothing. He committed a boneheaded traveling violation on a drive attempt along the baseline in the third quarter before fouling James Harden on his way to a 3-point play a minute later.
PJ Washington: C-
9 Points / 10 Rebounds / 2 Assists (28 Minutes)
Washington looked out of sorts at times in his return from injury. He threw the ball away awkwardly in the middle of a 13-2 Clipper run midway through the second quarter. Washington was hit-or-miss defending Kawhi Leonard throughout the game. He led the team in rebounding, though, and hit a junk time 3-pointer from the left wing with eight minutes to play.
Kai Jones: C+
6 Points / 3 Rebounds / 2 Assists / 1 Steal (19 Minutes)
Jones was Jones for the most part against the Clippers, but he, like the rest of the Mavericks, found it a little harder to get open looks in Friday’s loss. He made a nice little spin move for a fading bucket in close with 6:45 left in the third to make it 67-47.
Dwight Powell: C
0 Points / 2 Rebounds / 1 Assist (12 Minutes)
Look at me finding positivity in the morass of an awful basketball game. It’s called growth. Powell made a nice pass for an assist on a back cut to Dinwiddie early in the fourth. Then he lost Drew Eubanks defensively twice on pick-and-rolls, leaving the lane open for two garbage time dunks from the Clippers’ big man off the bench.
You can listen to our latest podcast episode in the player embedded below, and to make sure you don’t miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Pod Maverick podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Pocketcasts, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox.
You can check out our After Dark Recap podcasts, YouTube Live recordings, and guest shows on the Pod Maverick Podcast feed. Please subscribe, rate, and review.
