Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday was missing two teams: the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks. Therefore, the two teams squared off on Tuesday night and a really good game of hoops broke out in Dallas.
In the end, the Clippers rode 36 points from Kawhi Leonard on the way to their 31st win of the season. Still, Luka Doncic went stride for stride with Leonard, scoring 36 of his own points and adding 10 rebounds with 9 assists.
Kawhi (36 PTS, 11 REB) and the @LAClippers win their 4th in a row.
Landry Shamet: 18 PTS, 5 3PM
Luka Doncic: 36 PTS, 10 REB, 9 AST pic.twitter.com/qa1eEgbZKh— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2020
Not only did Dallas lose the game as home favorites 110-107, but they lost a key player to injury. Just as they got Kristaps Porzingis back in the lineup, center Dwight Powell went down with a non-contact right achilles injury early in the first quarter.
Here’s what Rick Carlisle had to say about losing Powell:
“Guys like him define the culture we want here,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “It doesn’t get much tougher than this, if it ends up being what we fear it might.”
By the sounds of it, Powell could miss extensive time.
The Mavericks trailed by double-digits in the second half in spells, but battled back behind 24 second half points by Doncic.
Kawhi, Luka drop 36 each in Dallas. 🔥
Kawhi Leonard: 36 PTS | 11 REB | 3 STL@luka7doncic: 36 PTS | 10 REB | 9 AST pic.twitter.com/zjGX1laMTx
— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2020
The early talk was that the Clippers should be better. Wins like this on the road against quality opponents – when their star gives them their best performance – are statement wins. Equally important, the Clippers did all of this without Paul George who was out.
Finally, these two teams could meet again in the playoffs. Right now it’s clear that the better team by a small margin is the Clippers.
