DALLAS – J.J. Redick smiled as he ran away from the Mavericks on a fast-break layup and took it himself instead of dishing to Blake Griffin for the dunk. The Clippers (14-2) would continue to run away all night, as they cruised to their fourth straight win Wednesday night.
Here are five quick takeaways from the Clippers’ 124-104 victory against the Mavericks (2-12).
1) Second quarter surge – The Mavericks hit four of their first five shots before the Clippers took their second shot of the game, as the Clippers found themselves down, 11-3, early. But the Clippers, who entered the night with 11 more wins than the Mavs, quickly showed why that was the case. Trailing 24-23, the Clippers outscored the Mavs by 24 points the remainder of the first half, with plenty of help from a bench that combined to go 12-for-18 in a first half in which the Clippers shot 61 percent. From late in the first quarter to early in the third, the Clippers outscored the Mavericks, 49-19. From there, the lead continued to expand as the Clippers ran away with it, improving to 7-0 on the road.
2) Rivers goes deep – Austin Rivers hit a three, stole the inbound pass and hit another three right before the end of the first quarter, finishing the opening quarter 3-for-3 from long range to give the Clippers their largest lead of the game to that point. It was just the beginning for Rivers, who gave the Clippers the momentum for their gigantic run from that point on, ended up the team’s leading scorer with 22 points and going 6-for-7 from long distance.
3) Bench burst – Seven different Clippers scored in double figures, and five of them scored at least 15 points apiece. Chris Paul had 18 points, DeAndre Jordan finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, but it was the bench that broke the game open. Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers and Marreese Speights all added at least 15 points apiece off the bench. Speights was the lone player in the game with a double-double, posting 16 points and 12 rebounds, marking his first double-double as a Clipper.
4) Threes, please – The Clippers went 9-for-14 from behind the arc in the first half, with Paul, Griffin, Crawford, Austin Rivers and Speights all hitting at least one apiece, and finished 15-for-32 from 3-point range on the night. It’s a continuation for the Clippers, who entered the night with the third best 3-point percentage in the league.
5) Hands team – Chris Paul entered the night as the league’s leader in steals, and he wasted no time getting in passing lanes. He had two steals by the end of the first quarter and four by the end of the night, to no surprise of head coach Doc Rivers, who said before the game that Paul has the best hands he’s ever seen. Paul finished with 18 points, four assists and three rebounds before all the starters got to watch the end of the game from the bench.
What’s Next? – The Clippers go to Detroit to play the Pistons on Friday.
