Dallas Mavericks did a great job defending the perimeter
The Los Angeles Clippers did not help themselves in this game by missing some open shots, but at the same time, we cannot discredit Dallas. Not only did the Mavericks hustle on every possession defensively, but their perimeter defense was key in this game and probably one of the biggest differentials.
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Dallas held the Clippers to 11-40 (27.5%) from three-point range and Los Angeles was the best three-point shooting team during the regular season, shooting about 41.1% from three-point range. The Mavericks took advantage of the Clippers’ weak three-point shooting effort and they shot 17-36 (47.2%) from deep, much higher than their 36.2% season average.
The contributions from Dorian Finney-Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. from three-point land was much-needed for Dallas given Kristaps Porzingis’ offensive struggles, but again, everything goes back to Luka Doncic making the extra effort to make his teammates better.
The biggest contribution from Luka’s triple-double in Game 1 was his 10 assists because these all led to wide-open shots for the Mavericks, most of them coming from three-point range. Converting defense from one end to three-point opportunities on the other end was vital for the Mavericks and one of the biggest differences between the Mavericks and Clippers in Game 1.
Nicolas Batum and Rajon Rondo made more three-pointers (6) combined for the Clippers than than their entire starting lineup made (5), which is why this is going to be a big storyline to watch in this series. Can Dallas continue to force the Clippers into taking bad shots and pressure them to take rushed shots from the perimeter in this series?
