6 Dallas Mavericks players who must play better to beat the Clippers

4. P.J. Washington

Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington has quickly become a fan favorite in this series due to his viral stare-down towards the LA Clippers bench in Game 3, and his defense has been excellent for the most part, but the Mavs need more out of him on the offensive end.

In this series, Washington is averaging 12.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 30 percent from downtown. Washington was someone who Jason Kidd said could be trending towards being the team's third scorer during the regular season, and Dallas not having someone who can go get a bucket on their own outside of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving has hurt them.

Washington was never someone who was expected to be a dynamic scorer when the Mavs traded for him, but they need him to be a consistent shooter in the playoffs. He had several stretches where he struggled as a shooter during the regular season, and the Mavs need for him to take advantage of the open looks that he gets.

Playing next to Irving and Doncic, Washington will continue to get these open looks as long as he is a Maverick and he has to be at least respectable from downtown. Washington shooting well will force the LA Clippers defenders to close out hard on him, consequently giving Washington more chances to attack close-outs and utilize his floater that Mavs fans have grown to love.