Three Takeaways As The Clippers Bounced Back To Annihilate The Mavs In Game 5

The Los Angeles Clippers responded after getting shellshocked in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks. L.A. came out like a team with a purpose in Game 5 on Tuesday night, setting the tone early and cruising to the most emphatic win any team has had in the postseason thus far. By the time the dust is settled, Los Angeles found itself with a 154-111 win that somehow felt more lopsided than the final score appeared. Now, Doc Rivers and co. find themselves 3-2 up in the series.

The Clippers shot a scintillating 63.1 percent from the field, connected on a ridiculous 62.9 percent of their attempts from deep, and slowed down the vaunted Maverick offense. Before Game 6 takes place on Thursday, we lamented on a trio of takeaways from this one-sided affair.

The Clippers looked like champions

Los Angeles looked completely stunned during Game 4. They got out to a 21-point lead, blew that, and then just got absolutely obliterated by Luka Doncic, who could not do anything wrong. While the Clippers did have a few answers as the game went on, it just felt like Doncic was going to do something magical and lead Dallas to win, which ended up happening.

Far more concerning, though, was how Los Angeles seemed like it was a little bit off once Dallas made it a game. In Game 5, they had zero intention of letting that happen again. The Mavericks got out to a 16-9 lead, at which point the Clippers ripped off a torrid 32-6 run to end the first quarter. By halftime, the lead was 24. By the end of the third, it was 25, and the fourth quarter was a mere formality.

This is the L.A. team that a bunch of folks picked to win a championship. They were crisp on offense — their 154 points was a franchise playoff record, as was their 22(!) made threes — and ruthless on defense. While 111 points is a lot, it’s a relatively good night at the office against this historically great Dallas offense. They seemed to really enjoy going right at Doncic (more on this in a bit!) and embraced being a team of pests, even without Patrick Beverley. It was a stark reminder that when the Clippers are really locked in, they are going to be really, really difficult to beat, especially went Takeaway No. 2 happens.

Playoff P

The “Playoff P” thing has led to people getting a whole lot of jokes off at Paul George’s expense during the playoffs thus far. George is a very good player, but against Dallas, he’s really, really struggled, something that is applicable to his play on both ends of the floor. His offensive game has been off, while his defense, which can be stifling at times, has been just a hair worse than usual. Considering his offensive struggles, he’s needed to step it up on the defense of end of floor, and he hasn’t done that.

George admitted after Game 5 that he was “in a dark place,” but in his 25 minutes on the floor, he broke out of his slump in an emphatic way. He was magnificent, going for 35 points on 12-for-18 shooting and hitting four of his eight attempts from three. He was also engaged on the defensive end and was one of the players tasked with making Doncic’s life miserable.

A lot has been made of Playoff P, especially because the Clippers acquired him to pair with Leonard and win a title this year. That guy didn’t show up for the first four games. The hope in L.A. is that Game 5 was his arrival, and the best version of George is here to stay for the remainder of the postseason.

The Mavs got frustrated early

It was evident early on that this wasn’t going to be the Mavericks’ night. Once the Clippers started to pour it on in the first quarter, everyone on Dallas seemed a little off. Rick Carlisle and Luka Doncic both rode the refs a ton — the former got tossed, the latter picked up a technical foul that was so easy to see coming that Chris Webber was predicting it on TNT’s broadcast for a few minutes. Doncic still had a decent night (22 points, eight rebounds, four assists), but it wasn’t nearly up to the standard he’s capable of producing and his injured ankle seemed to really be bugging him.

Now, Dallas’ postseason comes down to one game. If they lose, their run is over, and if they win, they’ll force a decisive Game 7. They cannot have the attitude that they had on Tuesday night if they want to get there. Doncic has to be on his game, Kristaps Porzingis playing would be huge, and the various pieces around them have to hit shots. If they can do this, Dallas can win this series, even if there is an uphill climb ahead of them.