3. Maintain Defensive Intensity
Dallas came out as the aggressor on Wednesday night on both ends, especially defensively. They suffocated the Clippers defensively all night and nothing came easy.
Mavs defense held one of the Clippers’ superstars, George, to zero first-half points. George finished 4-for-17 shooting from the field for just 14 points. This came in part from him being baited into three fouls in the first quarter alone. Not only did they limit George early, but Kawhi Leonard also had his struggles.
Dallas allowed Leonard to get 18 points in the first half, but he had to work for every point, most of which came at the stripe. Mavs held him to just 4-for-12 from the field in the first half and helped set the tone for the rest of the game. George didn’t get his first basket until the 8:11 mark of the third quarter.
As the games continue, the Mavs are slowly correcting the few things they needed to fix before the playoffs, but are fixing them on the fly instead. Which, is okay as long as they get fixed and stay that way.
The Mavs held the Clippers to just 10-for-34 from beyond the arc, which is one of the more important things that needed fixing. Making it consecutive games now in which the Mavs held the Clippers to less than 35 percent from the 3-pt line. Though the Mavs played well defensively without him on the floor, Dorian Finney-Smith can’t afford to be in foul trouble to begin the second half like he was Wednesday night in game two. He is the team’s best defender and the leader of the defense and you need him on the floor as much as possible.