LOS ANGELES — Jason Kidd’s decision to draw up a play for Kyrie Irving on the first possession of Game 5 set an intentional tone for Wednesday’s blowout victory over the LA Clippers.
The veteran guard opened the scoring by using the same shot that helped the Clippers fend off the Mavericks in Game 4 as he threw up a floater over the outstretched arms of Terance Mann and Ivica Zubac. This moment occurred long before Irving’s two-way highlight in the third quarter that led to one of his most impressive plays of the first round.
On the team’s second possession, Irving threw an overhead pass to a cutting P.J. Washington for an easy dunk. The next time Dallas scored derived from an alley-oop connection from Luka Doncic to Derrick Jones Jr. Irving had another score inside the paint a couple of possessions later.
The Mavericks’ diverse offense, coupled with several possessions of suffocating defense, led to a dominant 123-93 victory in what could have been the Clippers’ last home game at Crypto.com Arena. The 30-point blowout began with the early assertiveness from Irving, who had typically waited to look for his shot until after the first quarter.
“I think it sends a very direct message, not only to my teammates and me, but to the other team that we see a mismatch out there,” Irving said. “We see something that we can take advantage of. It’s no disrespect to who we’re playing against ... when your number is called, you just gotta be ready to stay aggressive. I felt pretty good and confident that J [Kidd] threw some plays my way and I was able to get it going.”
A glance at Irving’s stat line of 14 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals probably wouldn’t mean much to the casual fan. His 40-point explosion through the final three quarters in Game 4 may appear more impactful. However, his five shot attempts in the first quarter were his most through any first quarter in the series, which required the Clippers to send double-teams earlier than usual.
As a result, Dallas’ athletic group of forwards and centers had more freedom to cut to the rim for lobs and easy baskets. Doncic, who played through injury and illness, also had his most efficient outing of the series with 35 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists with a plus/minus rating of 28. Irving led the team with a plus/minus of 35 — the highest of any player through the series.
Since his acquisition last season, Irving’s been lauded in Dallas for serving as a leader and a co-star next to Doncic. Irving is typically known for his offensive abilities, but he’s embraced the challenge as a defender as well.
“You gotta have great conditioning to be able to make an impact on that end,” Irving said. “We have so much firepower in here, I don’t necessarily have to rely on my offensive abilities to get me going. I really take pride in it, and it carries over to my teammates.”
Despite giving up a couple of inches, he’s been the primary defender of James Harden. The two former teammates in Brooklyn have swapped baskets on each other throughout the series.
“Kyrie was playing great defense and pressuring [Harden] the whole time,” Doncic said.
Irving had two steals Wednesday, including one from Harden with eight minutes left in the third quarter. The crafty veteran used his elite ball-handling to go from one side of the court to the other, but the combination of a right-to-left crossover into a behind-the-back dribble allowed Irving to keep a defending Norman Powell on his toes.
Irving finished a layup through contact with his off-hand, putting the finishing touches on a play that garnered attention from several notable names, including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Isaiah Thomas. He credited his AAU coach, Sandy Pyonin, for challenging him to keep his head up while dribbling at full speed.
ALL 👏 OF 👏 THIS pic.twitter.com/XLaX7wt5vk
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) May 2, 2024
“Not a lot of people can go from A to B and make five moves while they’re running,” Irving said. “I think that’s something that separates me from a lot of different guards in the league. ... Some of the moves just come out of the creative air. It feels good that I was able to finish it, but I knew it was a bigger play than just the highlight.”
The play was a momentum shift for the Mavericks, who will return to Dallas looking to close out the Clippers in six games. Before the series began, Doncic was asked about what separates this Mavericks team from the groups who lost to the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs in 2020 and 2021.
“We have Kai,” Doncic said.
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