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In Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, the Dallas Mavericks fell behind the Los Angeles Clippers 109-97, scoring just 30 points in the first half of the game.
The Mavericks were disappointed because Kawhi Leonard’s right knee tendinitis kept him out of the game. Dallas was down as many as 29 points, unable to stop Paul George, Ivica Zubac, or James Harden, and getting little play from anyone beyond Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
Doncic finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, but he shot 11-26 (42.3%) from the floor and 4-12 (33.3%) from beyond the arc. He acknowledged the need to be more aggressive in attacking the rim in Game 2 after often taking tough jump shots.
“I just gotta stay aggressive. That was my bad in the first half,” Doncic said. “It wasn’t aggressive enough, so I just got to stay aggressive and find the open man.” The Clippers trusted Zubac to anchor their defense as the big defender in pick-and-roll, often by having play in drop.
Against Zoom action handoffs that involve an off-ball screener, Los Angeles had Zubac do more switching and play up to the level. Zubac understood he had to be ready to guard in space and remained intent on protecting the paint while remaining active as a weak-side help defender when rotating off the dunker spot. “Just doing my job. I know we are a great defensive team,” Zubac said. “I got to be one of the leaders on the defensive end, and that’s something that I’ve been doing for this team for a little bit, and no matter who it is, I just have to lock into the game plan
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