Dallas Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber opened up about being on the wrong end of Kawhi Leonard's newest NBA Top Shot Moment. Kleber, for the wrong reasons, was part of one of the most celebrated plays from Saturday's Game 1 matchup between the Mavs and Los Angeles Clippers, which featured Leonard throwing down a nasty hammer on the break and sending Kleber to the floor.
“Obviously it was an amazing dunk, because I honestly didn’t expect him to jump up and dunk. But it’s not going to hold me back, because at the end of the day every possession counts and I couldn’t foul, and I would do it every time.” Kleber said, via Mavs.com.
Right after the play, Staples Center erupted and Leonard was hyped. It's not every day that you see Kawhi put out a huge scream, so you know this one was special. Paul George and Marcus Morris joined the taunting party and stared down Kleber while the Mavericks forward was still trying to find his soul.
“I think the stare-down should have been a technical foul in my opinion, but that’s not my decision,” Kleber added. “But I didn’t really care. I get up and I try to keep playing, and we kept playing. Stuff like that happens.”
Of course, the play was easier to digest for Kleber and the rest of the Mavs given that they ended up stealing Game 1 on the road to gain a huge 1-0 advantage in the seven-game series. For Kleber, plays such as this happen and we should all just move on.
“I’ve got dunked on before, so this is not going to affect the game. It’s two points, but you’ve got to keep playing your game,” Kleber said.
The Mavs will try to go up 2-0 on Tuesday night.
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