The Clippers Evened The Series In A Wild Game 4 Despite Blowing A 31-Point Lead In Dallas

After winning Game 1 thanks to a dominant first half performance, the Clippers have struggled to find a rhythm in Games 2 and 3 against the Mavericks, as Dallas seized control of the series. It has been largely due to a tremendous defensive effort and timely buckets from Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic that the Mavs took a 2-1 lead into Sunday, but Game 4 followed a similar script to the opener in what became a 116-111 Clippers win to even things back up.

The Clippers came out red-hot, with Paul George finally asserting his presence in the series as he was nothing short of unstoppable in the first half as L.A. led by 17 at the break — after taking a 31-point lead early in the second quarter.

George finished the first half with 26 points, and even had a little taunt for PJ Washington after his fifth (of six) threes in the opening 24 minutes. However, the Mavs chipped away at the Clippers advantage late in the second quarter and seemed to settle in going to the third quarter, with Kyrie Irving leading the way for the Dallas offense as they cut the deficit to just four going to the fourth.

The Clippers would briefly restore order, but Irving and Luka Doncic strung together a mid-fourth run that finally got them back on level pegging with L.A., fully erasing a 31-point deficit.

Down the stretch, we got a shot-making duel from both sides. James Harden hit three consecutive tough finishes to keep the Clippers ahead.

Kyrie answered with a mini 5-0 run of his own to give Dallas their first lead of the game, and send the crowd in the American Airlines Center into a frenzy.

However, that lead was short-lived as George, who was quiet in the second half, hit a preposterous stepback three from the corner to give Los Angeles the lead back for good.

The Clippers would ice the game at the free throw line and even the series at 2-2 going back to L.A. George and Harden combined for 66 points and went 11-of-15 from three-point range as they stepped up in a major way with Leonard out of the lineup. It seemed George was finally willing to be assertive with Kawhi not playing, as he tends to try and defer to his co-star, and that led to his best performance of the series (even with the quiet second half). Harden was masterful in the fourth, scoring 14 of his 33 and turning back the clock to get downhill and hit some tough finishes with the Clippers needed that kind of creation desperately.

For the Mavs, they just dug themselves too big of a hole early and had to expend a ton of energy to erase it. They deserve credit for battling all the way back, with Irving leading the way with 40 points and Doncic adding 29, but they looked to gas out a bit late and couldn’t quite complete an all-time comeback. Defensively, they took a step back from Games 2 and 3, and it would probably be wise if they try not to fall behind by 20+ in the first quarter of Game 5 if they want to reclaim the series lead.