Kawhi Leonard's Clippers Take Care of Luka Doncic's Mavs: 3 Major Takeaways

Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers defeated Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. DallasBasketball.com evaluates key takeaways from the game.

The Dallas Mavericks continued their five-game road trip with a 113-101 loss to the LA Clippers. The Mavs still rank fourth in the Western Conference, but their record declined to 23-19 on the season, while the Clippers improved to 22-21 and snapped a six-game losing streak. 

Luka Doncic returned to the lineup after resting during the Mavs' 120-109 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. The game was played on the second night of a back-to-back, which has become a target for the superstar to rest. He finished with 43 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists on Tuesday.

Kawhi Leonard had an incredible performance with 33 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. It was one of the most efficient 30-point games in recent memory given that it featured an output of 1.737 points per possession.

A 38-22 scoring differential by the Clippers in the second quarter proved to be instrumental in determining the final outcome. The Mavs already had been outscored by a six-point margin in the opening period, resulting in a 69-47 halftime disadvantage. Dallas proved unable to rally back completely.  

Here are three takeaways from the Mavs' loss to the Clippers.

3. Lack of Wing Depth on Display

With Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Green sidelined, the Mavs have deployed more lineups using at least three guards than they'd sure like to do. They have experienced the consequences of their personnel limitations in other matchups, but all was magnified against the Clippers' personnel.

Reggie Bullock would be the choice to start at the three if the priority is to maximize perimeter defense. However, he hasn't been consistently effective in containing dribble penetration this season. He is also a one-dimensional threat offensively amid a season featuring a 31.6 percent conversion rate from 3-point range. Teams know he will rarely look to attack downhill and is a liability when doing so, making it easier to double-team Doncic. 

Right now, the alternative for the Mavs is to deploy Tim Hardaway Jr., a defensive liability struggling to convert on drives. He's more aggressive in taking tougher 3-point attempts and has the willingness to attack downhill, but when he's not hot from 3-point range, the results are limited. 

Against the Clippers, the Mavs' limitations with Bullock and Hardaway were fully displayed. Without an available trust to deploy single coverage against Kawhi Leonard, Dallas got cooked when he had the ball in his hands and when he passed out of the post after drawing two defenders. 

 Surely, the goal would be to have Green and Finney-Smith start at some point given that both are better than their counterparts at attacking closeouts and defending. Regardless, there is still a lack of shot creation in such a possible scenario. 

2. Defense Still Needs Work

The Mavs took their defense to new heights midway through last season after going small and embracing a swarming style of defense. The willingness to make rotation after rotation and having the speed on the floor do it proved to be a successful formula. 

Against the Clippers' five-out lineups, the Mavs struggled to execute the backend rotations of their scramble defense. It's something that requires real-time communication and decision making. It can take time to build the necessary chemistry to execute at a high level, which they lack right now. 

The problems are exacerbated for the Mavs' defense when there is an inability to contain at the point of attack on the perimeter. It becomes more challenging when there are offensive rebounds being given up due to a lack of attentiveness and assertiveness on the boards when shots go up. 

There are naturally going to be letdown performances for any team throughout an 82-game season. The Mavs need to use their game film against the Clippers to clean up their defensive mistakes. There are no shortage of examples of things to address as they work through that chemistry building process against small ball units. 

1. Luka Doncic Needs More Help

Against a versatile defense that likes to take away the benefits of traditional pick-and-roll actions, the Mavs lose their most reliable form of attack outside of just getting out Doncic's away and letting him go to work. 

It has been a struggle to work the ball into Christian Wood on post-ups at different points of the season. Without traditional pick-and-rolls to rely on and challenges to get Wood clean looks, there isn't a reliable secondary threat for the Mavs to lean on against switching teams.

In the fourth quarter, Doncic scored 20 of the Mavs' 23 points while his teammates shot a combined 1-11 from the floor and 1-9 from 3-point range. He had to take matters into his own hands by attacking the paint and playing out of the post down the stretch. 

Luka Doncic scored 20 of the Mavericks' 23 points in the 4th quarter of their loss to the Clippers.

Doncic went 5-6 FG, 2-2 3P, and 8-8 FT.
Rest of the Mavs went 1-11 FG and 1-9 3P.

Here are all of Doncic's points from this period ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/72BQ7BzQfn

— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) January 11, 2023

There are naturally going to be different looks thrown at a player like Doncic when facing most defenses. Some teams will try to mix in some late doubles to get the ball out of his hands and disrupt rhythm. Other teams will send an early blitz to cause a 4-on-3 situation. The Clippers were comfortable with doing both and the Mavs didn't break it consistently enough.

Leonard had an easy time getting what he wanted when he was enabled to get to his spots against single coverage. A key difference was the Clippers' ability to make light work in breaking the Mavs' defense after he made the pass out against a double team. Doncic doesn't have that luxury and Dallas must fix it soon.

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