Once again, it’s time to dole out some Clippers vs Mavericks player grades. While LAC lost the first matchup between the teams by a historically embarrassing 51 points and won Monday night’s high-intensity rematch by 10, Wednesday brought a refreshingly typical regular season outcome: both teams more or less executed their gameplans, and one made a lot more threes than the other. It’s particularly frustrating to run into a night like this considering how many avoidable losses LAC has picked up in recent weeks, but the good news is that in these last two games, it feels like the team is getting back to good defensive process in a way we really haven’t seen since their big win over the Utah Jazz on February 19th. Now they just have to keep executing like they did in these two Mavericks games, and they’ll rattle off wins on more typical shooting nights.
Clippers Starter Grades
Reggie Jackson: C. I actually liked Reggie’s start to the game, but I thought that as LAC’s offensive struggles accumulated, he lost his poise a bit and threw away some possessions by trying to do stuff he can’t really do–as Jim Jackson says: “KYG – Know Your Game.” More often than not, Reggie trying to take over is going to exacerbate problems, not solve them. He started but played less than 6 minutes in the second half as Ty Lue went away from him.
Paul George: B+. This was a good game for Paul, and he was one of the only Clippers who had an above-average efficiency night: 28 points, 10-20 shooting, 5-8 from three. They would have been in a lot of trouble without his production, considering the team only scored 89 points in this game. Some turnovers aside–yes, those struggles continue–PG was good enough tonight for LAC to win comfortably.
Kawhi Leonard: B-. I do appreciate Kawhi having 7 assists to 2 turnovers, but he just has to give you more than 20 points on 21 shots. This is the problem with a mid-range heavy diet: even when he makes about half of them, as he did last night (4/9 on shots outside the restricted area but inside the three-point line), it’s drastically less efficient than the team’s offense as a whole.
Marcus Morris: B. Probaby the single biggest thing working against LAC in this game was that Morris–one of the league leaders in three-point shooting, went 1-9 from beyond the arc. But an offensive possession that creates an open three for a 45% shooter is objectively good, and him getting off 9 3PA in 36 minutes should be seen as a win for the Clippers. I’m not bothered by the result, Marcus did exactly what you’d want him to do. The salvageable grade comes from him making some contributions in other areas–7 rebounds in his 36 minutes, effective cog in a good team defensive performance, 4-5 on two-point attempts with his outside shot following (grabbing his own offensive rebound on his one miss), a couple of assists, a couple of steals.
Ivica Zubac: A. Really, what more could you ask of Zu in a game like this? He wasn’t perfect, but he was really good in 35 minutes on the court, contributing 14 points on 7-9 shooting, 7 rebounds (4 offensive), 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block. On paper, only having 3 defensive rebounds looks like a serious wart, but he spent most of his time defensively guarding either shooting bigs (Porzingis or Kleber) or switched on to Luka Doncic contested his drives, leaving the other Clippers to gang rebound behind him–and they did, with Dallas only grabbing 6 offensive boards on the night. I’ve been of the mind that I don’t want LAC to trade Zu, but would accept it in the right deal… but I’m starting to think that with their defense being a far bigger issue than their offense, he’s way too important to send out in a package for a shot creator.
Clippers Bench Player Grades
Nicolas Batum: B-. We saw something approximating a playoff rotation in this game, with Nic sponging up a ton of minutes across positions as the “5th competent guy.” So he was in for a guard in big George – Leonard – Batum – Morris – Zubac lineups, spelled the Clippers’ forwards in his typical role, and played center on the second unit with Serge Ibaka sidelined. Maybe it’s too much to ask a guy to make a big positive impact when he’s wearing so many different hats for short shifts, and Nic does deserve credit for positively influencing the defense, but he found his way to just 2 points on 1-3 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 29 minutes. That just… not a lot of production. And he only got off 2 3PA, one of which was a rushed shot during a cold stretch that was extremely ill-advised.
Lou Williams: C. The offense for Lou tonight went like this: he was 2-10, with one late clock heave that we’ll excuse. He took three shots from deep (other than that heave) and went 1-3, with both misses being good looks. He was then 1-6 inside the arc: an easy lay-in when he cut off a Kawhi double team in the post, a drive where he lost the ball going up, a tough missed floater, and 3 tough contested mid-range pull-ups (one of which was blocked). We talk a lot about Morris’ game being too isolation and mid-range heavy, but rarely about how Lou–who takes over 60% of his FGA outside the restricted area but inside the three-point line, and doesn’t convert at a good rate from any of those zones–could be more efficient and consistent with refined shot selection.
Terance Mann: C. This was mostly a nothing game for Terance, whose performance was inoffensive but ineffective as he scored one nice bucket going to the rim and grabbed a few rebounds, but made little tangible impact otherwise… and may have done more harm than good with his antagonizing approach to defending Luka Doncic, who was visibly annoyed at Terance but responded by taking over the game rather than mentally taking himself out of it.
No Grades
Amir Coffey, Daniel Oturu, and Mfiondu Kabengele each got off the bench for a moment to close after the Mavericks pulled away. Luke Kennard and Patrick Patterson were the team’s unused subs. Patrick Beverley and Serge Ibaka were sidelined with knee soreness and lower back tightness, respectively, with hopes that both can return in the upcoming games. Jay Scrubb continues to miss his rookie campaign after foot surgery in training camp.
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