The Los Angeles Clippers will continue their quest for a top-six spot in the Western Conference when they face the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night at Inglewood, Calif., for the second consecutive night.
The Clippers (45-32) earned an impressive 114-91 victory over the Mavericks on Friday to win for the 13th time in their past 16 games. A second victory in two nights over Dallas (38-40) could come with an additional challenge if Los Angeles elects to sit Kawhi Leonard.
Since making his season debut Jan. 4 after recovering from knee discomfort, Leonard has yet to play on consecutive nights. The Clippers will decide on Leonard’s availability early Saturday.
Leonard scored 20 points in 24 minutes for the Clippers on Friday, while Ivica Zubac had 14 points with 13 rebounds for his 20th double-double in his past 21 games. Leonard delivered his 11th consecutive game with at least 20 points.
Six Clippers players scored at least 12 points, but as welcome as it was to have offensive balance, it is the defense that has Los Angeles looking like a formidable playoff team. The Clippers entered Friday’s game fourth in the NBA with an average of 108 points allowed per contest.
“We have talked to them all year about holding each other accountable, talking, communicating,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of the defense. “They’ve been doing a good job with that of late, just talking through (broken) coverages.”
Home victories have started to mount with frequency. Los Angeles opened its new arena in October and lost the first four games there. They have gone 27-7 there since and have won 10 of the last 11 on their own floor.
“Once we got used to the new arena, the surroundings, the building and everything, I thought we’ve been playing pretty good at home,” Lue said Friday. “Our fans have been incredible. … We just have to keep it going.”
The Mavericks’ loss on Friday came with Anthony Davis out for injury management on his adductor strain, while Dereck Lively II (ankle) also sat out as a precaution. In addition, Klay Thompson departed midway through the game with an illness.
Naji Marshall scored 22 points for the Mavericks, while Spencer Dinwiddie added 18. Jaden Hardy scored 16 points, while P.J. Washington had 10 rebounds. Hardy’s availability for Saturday is in doubt after he injured his right ankle.
Kai Jones, who was waived by the Clippers on March 1 and signed with the Mavericks two days later, scored nine points against his former team in 22 minutes.
Dallas has four games remaining in its effort to wrap up a spot in the play-in tournament with games against Western Conference postseason qualifiers in the Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
Ninth-place Dallas lost ground to the 10th-place Sacramento Kings, who won Friday. The Mavericks are just a half-game up on the Kings, with the Phoenix Suns just below the play-in line, two games behind Sacramento.
“Right now, we’re not worried about the play-in (tournament),” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “We’re worried about the Clippers.”
Davis is considered a “possibility” to play Saturday, Kidd said.
–Field Level Media
