NBA Playoffs: 3 things the Dallas Mavericks must continue after Game 2

1. Close out games

Another area in which Dallas struggled in the regular season, was being able to close out games, which they had no problem with on Wednesday night. Regardless of having multiple Mavs in foul trouble early in the fourth quarter, Dallas never allowed the game to get to single digits in the final quarter.

Going into the fourth, they had three players, Burke, Finney-Smith and Doncic all with four fouls. Doncic obtained his fifth less than 30 seconds into the quarter, but his team sustained without his presence the majority of the final frame. Curry had six of his 15 points in the fourth and the team stretched the lead to as many as 18 in the final quarter.

Dallas wrote their wrongs from game one in terms of closing things out. Mavs had many reasons as to why they didn’t win on Monday, but they had their chances. This time around, they gave the Clippers no chance at a comeback.

The most important aspect of Dallas’ play throughout the game and to close out, was that they kept their foot on the gas.

It was an impressive win, but head coach Rick Carlisle knows they’re going to need this type of production consistently.

"“This is how we’re going to have to win games,” Carlisle said. “Our depth is going to be a big part of it. Trey Burke played an enormous role in this game with his aggression scoring the ball. He’s scrappy defensively, as was Wright. Going from 21 turnovers to nine against these guys is a very significant improvement. We did a better job keeping them off the foul line in the second half. There’s a lot of basic execution things we did really well to win the game. Do we need the win? Absolutely. I’ll agree to that.”"

The Clippers have been regarded all season as one of the top title contenders, but they aren’t unstoppable. The Mavs have the ability and the historically good offense to be able to knock off the Clippers in round one. Can they do it? Yes. Will they? We’ll see how things play out in game three and if they can maintain this level of play.