The Clippers were mounting a comeback before Irving’s surge stabilized the game for Dallas
With 1:18 left in the third quarter of Game 3 of the Mavericks first round series against the Clippers, Dallas had done just about everything right — the team was defending like hell, they were moving off the ball a bit better, and the role players who had been MIA in the first two games were chipping in.
Despite all of that, the Mavericks double-digit lead was dwindling. It was down to eight at that moment, even with all the good work the Mavericks had done. The main culprit? Dallas two stars weren’t delivering enough — with the Dallas lead at 70-62, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic had combined to shoot 8-of-25 from the field, with Irving in particular with just two points.
It would have been a gut punch for the Mavericks to blow a game with everything going so well only for the stars to have a cold shooting night. That’s when Irving seemingly flipped a switched, and practically won the game for the Mavericks.
In the final 1:18 of the third quarter, Irving scored Dallas’ last eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting, all with Luka Doncic on the bench. Dallas didn’t increase the lead that much, only from eight to 11, but with the Clippers charging it was a huge moment to stem the tide and just hold on. The Clippers threatened once or twice in the fourth quarter, but with the cushion Irving provided, they never got the game to one possession. Dallas’ defense continued to hammer Los Angeles, and the Mavericks grabbed a 101-90 victory.
Irving’s run in the third quarter contained all the things that have made his first full season in Dallas special — a transition three, attacking the rim in the pick and roll, and moving off ball. The Clippers weren’t doing anything special to slow Irving in Game 3, even after Irving scored well in Games 1 and 2. Los Angeles has a lot of lengthy, dynamic wing defenders in Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Terrance Mann. Whenever Irving has historically struggled in high-leverage moments, it’s usually because of bothersome length and size against him. Irving is a wizard with the ball, but he’s still beholden to his size, needing his jumper, guile, and touch to get his baskets since he doesn’t live at the free throw line.
His first basket was the Kyrie Special — a pull up three in transition.
Irving is dangerous in transition, and his pull up three is about as automatic a shot the Mavericks have in their entire arsenal. He’s shooting 39.5 percent on pull-up threes this season.
The second bucket was something Mavericks fans were happy to see — Irving attacking Clippers center Ivica Zubac in the pick and roll. Zubac has been a menace for the Mavericks this series, and a lot of it is how the Clippers are using him on offense. One way Dallas can neutralize that is play him off the floor when he’s on defense, taking advantage of him in the pick and roll. The Clippers play one big and four perimeter players for the majority of games (except for their small ball lineups), which means they don’t have a traditional power forward on the floor at all times. That role is typically filled by George and Leonard, who are definitely capable, but not the type of players that consistently want to do that dirty work for 48 minutes.
In the past, the Clippers used to have big wings like Nicholas Batum or Marcus Morris to fill those minutes. Without them, the Clippers are awfully guard heavy — the three main bench players for the Clippers this series are Mason Plumlee, Norman Powell, and Russell Westbrook. That’s a center and two guards. The Clippers just don’t have enough size.
So that means if the Mavericks get Zubac in the pick and roll, they need to attack. Because if the ball handler can get past Zubac, or string him out to the three point line, that means the Clippers weakside rim protection isn’t up the snuff. George has had his moments, but the Mavericks have also put him into foul trouble every game of this series.
On Irving’s second bucket, he gets around Zubac, stays aggressive, and finishes cleanly at the basket without much deterrence.
Irving’s third bucket of the quarter is what has separated him from a lot of Doncic’s former sidekicks in the Luka-era — movement off the ball. Perhaps Irving’s most lethal skill in this Mavericks offense is his willingness to do stuff away from the ball, whether that’s cutting or screening for his teammates.
After Irving’s two buckets, the Clippers decide to faceguard Irving with Westbrook. Without Doncic on the floor, it makes sense to cut off Irving and potentially the Mavericks entire offense. With Westbrook playing so aggressively, Irving used that to his advantage and slipped away from the three point line and toward the paint. Maxi Kleber delivered a perfect pass, and Irving finished plus the foul.
You’ll notice no center on the floor for the Clippers on Irving’s last bucket, as they went small after Irving scored getting around Zubac earlier. With the Mavericks having Kleber to match the small ball without actually going small, that means the Clippers have even less size to stop anything going toward the bucket.
Irving finished the second half with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. For the series, he’s averaging 25 points per game on 49.1 percent shooting, 47.6 percent from three. He’s made 10-of-21 three pointers, which is wild when you consider the rest of the Mavericks have shot 23-of-80 from three (28.8 percent). Irving has made almost a third of the Mavericks three pointers this series, underscoring both Irving’s utter importance to the Mavericks having a 2-1 lead and showcasing the offensive struggles the rest of the team has had.
Doncic is included in those struggles, and he’s shooting 30 percent from three so far, 37.7 percent overall. Thankfully for Dallas, Doncic is passing well and defending at a pretty high level, so they’re able to survive the shooting slump thanks to the overall team defense and Irving’s brilliance. Dallas is winning this series with defense, but it still needs someone to make some shots, and so far that has been Irving. This is why the Mavericks risked a lot to make this trade a year ago to give Doncic a bonafide All-Star teammate, and so far it’s paying off.
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, Google Podcasts, 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.