DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks were defeated by the Los Angeles Clippers 116-111 on Sunday afternoon in Game 4 of their playoff series. The series is now even at two games apiece. However, Dallas displayed no shortage of resiliency in the defeat as Kyrie Irving led the way.
LA led by 31 points early in the game before the Mavs began to make a comeback. In the third quarter, Dallas made things especially interesting. The Mavs trailed by just four points heading into the fourth quarter.
Kyrie Irving did everything he could to give Dallas a chance. Irving recorded 40 points on 14-25 shooting from the field and 6-12 shooting from beyond the arc. Kyrie added seven rebounds and five assists. His 38th point gave the Mavs a 105-104 advantage with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter and it seemed as if the Mavericks were on the verge of completing a come-from-behind victory.
Following a Clippers timeout, Paul George answered with a clutch three-pointer to give LA a 107-105 lead. Los Angeles never looked back en route to a pivotal Game 4 win.
The Mavericks would obviously loved to have won and taken a 3-1 series lead. Nevertheless, the team had a chance in the second half of the contest despite the early deficit.
Luka Doncic struggled mightily with his shot but still finished with a 29-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double. Overall, Dallas shot just 33.3 percent (11-33) from beyond the arc. Doncic addressed the Mavericks' shooting woes after the defeat.
“I mean… We were down 31, we came back,” Doncic said. “The fans were amazing, keep supporting us. We were down 31 but they kept supporting us… We got to start games better.”
Kyrie Irving, Mavericks fall just short of 31-point comeback
It was a difficult offensive performance for Dallas from deep. They ended up shooting 49.4 percent from the field, which was important amid their three-point struggles.
Irving, though, was one of the few Mavs who found success from three-point range. He shot 50 percent from deep in the victory.
Luka even admitted that he feels like he's letting Kyrie down. Kyrie still has complete confidence in his co-star, however.
I asked Irving about Doncic's three-point struggles and if Luka's knee injury is potentially impacting his performance.
“When I sat up here the other night I told you guys that everybody is pretty much banged up,” Irving said. “We don't have time to look at each other and ask if we're okay… We just got to be willing to put our bodies on the line. If he's not good to go, I'm sure he will sit out. But knowing him, knowing his confidence level, knowing how well he knows the Clippers, I know he wants to play well. I know he wants to make a bigger impact than he is now, even though he’s almost averaging a triple-double for the series. But we're always critical of him and I think he's critical of himself.
“He's a young kid in the playoffs going against a team that beat him twice, so there's a little bit of a mental fatigue there as well. But I think this is what makes the beauty of sports come together. We have another opportunity on Wednesday to be in LA and be better. Hopefully these next two days will be good to him… Well I know they will be good to him. We will be ready for Wednesday's game.”
Luka Doncic looking for rebound effort in Game 5
Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks have faith in Luka Doncic. He is an MVP finalist for a reason.
Doncic is playing through pain. He said after Sunday's game that his knee is “hurting,” but he does not want to use that as an excuse. Luka ended up being a game-time decision on Sunday but was ultimately made available before tip-off.
In the end, Doncic is still going to find a way to impact the game. Both Kyrie and Luka are excellent players who bring more than scoring prowess to the table.
At the end of the day, though, everyone knows how talented of a scorer Luka Doncic is. He will have a couple of days before Wednesday's Game 5 to rest, which could lead to a big performance. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving will continue to lead the way both on and off the floor.
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