Clippers beat Dallas 118-95 as Mavericks' star guards Doncic and Irving sit due to injury
Norman Powell scored 29 points, James Harden added 24 and Ivica Zubac had 21 points and 15 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers beat Dallas 118-95 on Thursday night in the Mavericks' first game this season playing without star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Doncic sat out with a left heel contusion, Irving with right shoulder soreness, in the first of a two-game series against Los Angeles that will conclude Saturday night.
First-year Maverick Klay Thompson scored 22 points, his first game leading the team in scoring. Spencer Didwiddie added 19 making his first start of the season.
The Clippers took a 50-49 lead into the second half and outscored the Mavericks 39-28 in the third period, hitting 69.6% (16 for 23) of their field-goal attempts while Dallas shot 40% (8 of 20) in the quarter.
Clippers guard Kris Dunn was ejected for committing a flagrant 2 foul against Jazian Gortman late in the third period.
Takeaways
Clippers: Los Angeles led in bench scoring 33-16. Harden was 10 for 10 from the line. Powell played the entire second period, scoring 10 of his team-best 12 first-half points. Zubac didn't have a rebound during the game's first 15 minutes.
Mavericks: Dallas shot 7 for 30 on 3-pointers for season lows in makes and percentage (23.3%). They're 5-2 without Doncic, 1-2 without Irving.
Key moment
After P.J. Washington's runner pulled Dallas within 73-68 with five minutes left in the third quarter, Zubac's stuff began a 12-1 run, during which the Mavericks missed all four field-goal attempts.
Key stat
The Mavericks, missing a combined 52.8 points from Doncic and Irving, scored a season low and suffered their most lopsided loss of the season.
Up next
The teams meet again Saturday. The teams' other two meetings will be a back-to-back at Los Angeles on April 4-5.