The L.A. Clippers entered Friday night's matchup against the Dallas Mavericks the same way they entered Games 5 and 6 of last year's first round playoff series: without Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. Although they were shorthanded, they were taking on a Mavericks squad who entered the night tied with the Phoenix Suns for the worst record in the Western Conference at 8-21.
Without key contributors J.J. Barea and Andrew Bogut, the Clippers' task seemed a bit easier. That wasn't the case, however, as Mavs' star power forward Dirk Nowitzki returned from a 14-game absence nursing a strained right Achilles on Friday night helping Dallas escape L.A. with a 90-88 victory.
If anyone expected a rusty Nowitzki, they were mistaken. The future Hall-of-Famer came out firing, hitting his first shot of the game and scoring four points in the opening period. He capped that off with a 13-point second quarter in just under six minutes of playing time. Despite the hot shooting from Nowitzki, that's not was did the Clippers in.
Without their two primary ball-handlers as well as playmakers in Paul and Griffin, the Clippers tied a season-high with 20 turnovers and allowed the Mavericks to put up 20 points off of those giveaways.
“We can't have 20 turnovers, ever,” said DeAndre Jordan after the loss. “I don't care if it is the best team in the league or the worst team in the league. We are probably going to lose, or it is going to come down to the wire. We can't do that. It's just [about] getting back to our defense, limiting teams to one shot, and not giving them 14 offensive rebounds.”
J.J. Redick (five turnovers), Jamal Crawford (four turnovers), Austin Rivers (three turnovers), and Raymond Felton (two turnovers) had to do much of the ball-handling and playmaking which didn't always result in a good shot. The Dallas' defense forced stagnant offensive possessions from L.A. down the stretch, and the Clippers ultimately failed to score on four different possessions in the final minute-and-a-half of the fourth quarter of a tight game. The stagnation was a result of being down two playmakers and individuals trying to do too much, says coach Doc Rivers.
“It's not concerning, we don't turn the ball over that much. We are not a high turnover team. I thought we tried to do a little bit too much with the ball tonight.”
The Clippers rank ninth in turnovers per game at 12.5 per game after their 20-giveaway night, and with Chris Paul possibly out Sunday, Crawford, who had 26 points on 10-16 shooting, vows to be better.
“I had four [turnovers], but it felt like seven or eight,” said Crawford. “It always feels twice as bad, especially because they're timely turnovers. We really have to protect the ball, take care of it. I'm sure we'll do a better job of that moving forward. We'll be better with that.”
Another game-changing area the Clippers failed to take advantage of was the 50/50 balls. All night, it seemed like the Mavericks grabbed every loose ball and offensive rebound that was within reach. In total, Dallas grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, resulting in 15 second-chance points. All the extra opportunities in the second-half did the Clippers in, with the Mavericks totaling 10 more shot attempts in the second-half. The six second-chance opportunities in the final period alone resulted in eight points for the Mavericks.
“What really killed us honestly was the 20 turnovers and the offensive rebounds,” said coach Rivers. “When one team takes 87 shots and you take 74, that's 13 more field goals than you – you are probably going to lose.”
Despite all those miscues by the Clippers, they still had the opportunity to tie the game or go for the win on the final play. All of these mistakes are easily fixable, especially against a struggling Lakers' team with a young core that isn't particularly good at taking care of the ball (15.4 turnovers per game).
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