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The LA Clippers trounced the Dallas Mavericks 109-99 at the American Airlines Center to win the first of their back-to-back set on Monday. Tyroon Lue's men put up a complete team effort with seven players scoring in double-figures. Kawhi Leonard only shot 45% from the field but still led his side with 22 points.
After a blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans the other day, the LA Clippers clamped down on defense against the Dallas Mavericks. Luka Doncic had a poor shooting night but he still registered a triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists.
LA Clippers took control early against the Dallas Mavericks
The LA Clippers seemingly remembered the 51-point thrashing they received at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks in late December and got out of the gates quickly in this one. They took an early 14-point lead but the hosts did enough to remain in touching distance at halftime.
The Mavericks looked much better with a fit Kristaps Porzingis on the roster and the Twitterverse took note of that. Almost on cue, the 7'3 Latvian had a huge block on Kawhi Leonard.
Kawhi Leonard posterized Kristaps Porzingis to give LA Clippers a nine-point lead
The LA Clippers led the Dallas Mavericks 85-78 after three quarters of play. As the fourth quarter rolled along, the visitors continued their dominance and were unwilling to allow their opponents one final run to claw back into the game.
Midway through the quarter, Leonard exacted revenge on Porzingis for his previous block with an in-your-face dunk on the Mavericks' big man.
Dallas Mavericks kept digging themselves into a hole the whole night
The Dallas Mavericks were playing catch-up for the entirety of the game. They would make several runs to make the contest more interesting but the LA Clippers had an answer each time.
Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr. attempted one last comeback in the final five minutes of the ballgame with clutch threes but the team overall was mostly shooting blanks.
The Clips' ball movement was the major difference maker with several players touching the ball before someone would take a shot. Kawhi Leonard's defense was spectacular as well. He forced steals in crunch time and sealed the game at the charity stripe.
The Mavericks could always blame the referees for the lack of free-throw attempts (five) but the Clippers shot just 11 free throws overall as well.
