James Harden answered the call for the undermanned Clippers in a crucial Game 4 win.
DALLAS — Little by little, LA’s 31-point lead crumbled.
Once Kyrie Irving drove for a bucket with 2:15 left to cap a Dallas rally that eventually put the Mavericks ahead 105-104, something interesting took place.
“I looked at you and you looked crazy,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue recalled. “I said, ‘We’re OK.’ It’s a great team. Kyrie and Luka [Doncic] they will shoot. We knew they were going to make a run. But also, we didn’t think we were going to come into the building and go up 31 degrees.”
It’s true that Lue locked eyes with members of the media after Irving’s clutch bucket, saying, “We’re OK” as deafening chaos unfolded at American Airlines Center minutes before Los Angeles closed out the 116- 111 over the Mavericks in Game 4.
Despite missing star forward Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers now believe “we’ve seen the plan” to win this series, according to guard James Harden. The series moves to Los Angeles on Wednesday tied 2-2 for Game 5 (10 ET, TNT).
In NBA history, teams that have broken a 2-2 tie in Game 5 in a best-of-seven series have taken the total more than 80% of the time.
Here are five takeaways from the match:
1. James Harden: “It was a performance”
That’s how Harden described what happened in Game 4. It turned out to be a duel of superstars. The quartet of Harden, Paul George, Irving and Doncic combined for 135 points.
Harden and George combined for 66 points and 15 assists, becoming the seventh pair of Clippers teammates to finish a postseason game with 30 or more points. Irving scored 40 points with seven rebounds and five assists, while Doncic recorded his first triple-double of the postseason.
It marked Doncic’s fourth career triple-double in the playoffs. Interestingly, everyone has come against the Clippers.
“It was a performance,” Harden said. “They were elite, skilled, Hall of Fame basketball players going at it. There’s only so much you can do defensively. All of us are obviously scorers. But we can also pass. This makes it difficult. I think it’s whoever comes up with the stops. We were the ones who stopped consecutively”.
2. Another perfect quarter for Kyrie
We’ve now seen three quarters of this streak in which Irving has shot 100% from the field on five or more field goal attempts. Yes, Irving committed seven playoff turnovers in Game 4.
Irving went 5-for-5 in the second quarter with a trio of 3s Sunday for 16 points as Dallas cut LA’s lead from 31 points to 17 at the break.
Kyrie Irving scores 40 points and almost helps Dallas pull off a historic Game 4 comeback.
In the third quarter of Game 1, Irving went 8-for-8 for 20 points. Irving connected on all five of his field goal attempts in the second quarter of Game 2 for 16 points.
The Mavs could have completed the Game 4 comeback had they not scored just 16 points in the opening frame before falling behind by 31 points. Dallas trailed throughout the second half until Irving’s layup with 2:15 left.
3. Silver lining in Kawhi Leonard’s absence
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank announced before Game 4 that the team had ruled Leonard out indefinitely with right knee inflammation.
As devastating as this sounds, perhaps LA should take some positives from this latest period of adversity. The Clippers have shown the ability to excel without their brightest star, most recently with their 2-0 record without him so far in the playoffs.
“It was obvious in Game 3 his mobility was severely limited,” Frank said. “Basically, until he shows he can make all the moves he needs to, then he’ll be back.”
Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season and the first postseason game. The Clippers went 5-4 in that span before falling twice with Leonard back in the fold.
“Of course, you always want to have your best player,” Lue said. “I think the blessing for us is that Kawhi missed those last three weeks of the season and we can play a certain style with him out. So it wasn’t new for us to be able to play that style of basketball because we’ve been practicing.”
4. Paul George steps up
George’s offensive playmaking has been one of the most significant byproducts of Leonard’s absence. The veteran wing scored 33 points with eight assists and four steals.
Going into the game, Lou made sure to articulate how George’s role needed to change.
“He understands what we need from him, how we need him to play,” Lue said.
Steering clear of the foul was checked in at No. 1.
Officials whistled George for four fouls in Game 1 and five in both Games 2 and 3. This limited George’s aggressiveness on the defensive end while disrupting his ability to fall into the flow of games.
Lue reduced potential foul trouble for George by taking guard duties away from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
By doing this, Lou hoped George would “be more aggressive.”
The move worked with 26 points for George on 9-for-14 shooting in the first half. The nine-time All-Star beat Dallas from deep, going 6-for-9 on 3s. The Mavs, as a team, shot 4-for-15 from the field in that span.
Interestingly, Paul had connected on just seven 3s total through the first three games of this series before moving Sunday to No. 14 all-time in postseason 3-pointers made.
George played the entire first and third quarters, finishing with 43 minutes.
5. Harden handles business
James Harden delivers a vintage Game 4 performance.
Harden has been criticized for his postseason bloat. But through the first four games of this series, the former Kia MVP has proven to be LA’s most consistent player.
Harden entered Game 4 leading the Clippers in points (23.7), assists (7.0) and minutes per game (41.7).
Without Leonard, even more would be needed.
The 34-year-old had 18 points in the first half, shooting 6-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the field. Harden attacked the rack for six straight points in the fourth to keep the rallying Mavs at bay.
Harden complicated his afternoon by making just one field goal in the third quarter despite playing eight minutes.
His first bucket of the second half didn’t come until 9:45 remained in the game on an 11-foot floater off George’s eighth assist.
That changed in the fourth quarter, when five of his chips came out on floaters. Harden scored 15 in the final frame, with 13 coming in the clutch.
“I’m blessed to be able to switch it up and be a coordinator or a scorer,” he said. “I’ve done it throughout my career at the elite level. Game 1 we knew Kawhi was out. I should have been more aggressive. Tonight, we knew Kawhi was out. I should have been more aggressive. It’s very simple for me.”
* * *
Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can send him an e-mail herefind its file here and follow him X.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery