3 Studs, 2 duds in Mavericks’ blowout win against Clippers

In a highly anticipated matchup, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the LA Clippers 144-126 last night.

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were the stars of the show, as they combined for 71 points in the blowout win.

At the end of the first quarter the Mavs trailed the Clippers 33-30. It was in the second quarter where the “LuKai” duo would takeover as the Mavs would outscore the Clippers 47-18.

3 Studs, 2 duds in Mavericks’ blowout win against Clippers

The Mavericks shot 45.2 percent from three and 88.5 percent from the free-throw line.

After the win, the Mavs remain the second seed in the Western Conference with a record of 7-2.

Here are your three studs and two duds from the win.

Honorable Mention: Dante Exum

After a solid performance against the Raptors, Dante Exum continued to shine for the Mavericks in the home win.

Exum has quickly proven to Jason Kidd and the coaching staff that he’s worthy of getting playing time as he dominated both sides of the floor last night.

In his 18 minutes of play, Exum had eight points, six assists and two rebounds, while also shooting a solid 2-3 from the 3-point line.

Expect Exum to stay in the rotation as the Mavs will need all of the facilitating possible on Sunday night as they face the New Orleans Pelicans.

5. Stud - Derrick Jones Jr.

The story of the year has been how the Mavs got the steal of the offseason by signing Derrick Jones Jr. to a veteran minimum deal.

Since arriving in Dallas, Jones Jr. has done everything the Mavs have asked for.

Jones Jr. led the team in plus-minus, with a plus 36 in the win.

The starting small forward also managed to put up his first career double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

In the middle of the third quarter, Jones Jr. attacked the basket off a missed Irving layup and threw down the hammer over Paul George to extend the Mavs lead and get the AAC crowd on their feet.

With the way Jones Jr. has been performing, Mavs fans should be giving Nico Harrison and Jason Kidd heavy props for not only signing him but trusting his playstyle enough to be in the starting lineup.

With poor play from Josh Green lately, expect DJJ to continue to get heavy minutes in the upcoming games.

4. Dud - Grant Williams

Since making his arrival in Dallas this summer, Grant Williams has been nearly a perfect signing for the Mavs.

Williams struggled to stay out of foul trouble as he picked up his fourth personal foul early in the third quarter in last night’s victory.

In his 16 minutes of play, Williams only had two points, two rebounds and one assist. The forward is averaging 5.8 attempts from behind the arc per game, but was only able to get one shot off from three the entire night.

Although on the stat sheet it was a quiet night for Williams, he did display one of the main reasons the Mavericks signed him this summer, which is his defensive skills. Williams made Kawhi Leonard and Paul George earn every shot they made in the first half.

Williams may have had an off night, but with the roster the Mavs currently have, everyone has a next-man-up mentality. With Williams having an off night, Mavs fans got to see fan favorite, Oliver-Maxence Prosper score his first point of his NBA career.

The Mavericks will severely need Williams to perform at a high level on Sunday night, as he will most likely have to guard one of the strongest players in the NBA, Zion Williamson.

3. Stud - Kyrie Irving

Although Luka Doncic was the star of the show in the Mavs win, it was Kyrie Irving who translated the momentum in the Mavs' favor last night.

In a great performance, Irving held down the fort with 27 points, six rebounds, and three assists, while shooting an efficient 5-9 from behind the arc.

With 1:13 remaining in the first quarter, the Mavs trailed the Clippers by a score of 33-22. Irving would hit back-to-back threes and get to the free-throw line to go on a personal 8-0 run, cutting the Mavs deficit to just three points.

One of the key reasons the Mavs got the win was due to the pace they were playing at. It was mentioned all throughout the off-season that the Mavs needed to play at more of a fast pace. Irving proved in the win that the Mavs thrive offensively when pushing the ball up the court.

After struggling early this season to shoot well from three, Irving has shot 8-16 in his last two games and is beginning to look like himself again.

With the way Irving and Doncic are playing as a duo lately, it will be very difficult to stop this highly efficient offense.

2. Dud - Josh Green

After another poor performance from Josh Green, Mavs fans are still waiting for him to prove this will be his leap year.

In his 18 minutes of play, Green only had three points and three assists to go along with shooting a lousy 1-4 from the field. Green also had the most negative plus-minus with minus 15.

This is the fourth consecutive game Green has had seven or less points. Although Green is a solid facilitator and above-average defender, one of the main reasons the Mavs likely decided to extend his contract was so he could lessen the scoring workload from Doncic and Irving.

With Green playing mediocre basketball lately, expect players like Jones Jr. and Exum to get a boost in their playing time.

The positive to take out from all of this is that Green had a similar slow start to last season as well. Hopefully, he will begin to pick it up offensively and get in the normal flow he’s used to.

Many fans have been curious to see what Green could do in the starting lineup and if that could possibly change the way he approaches games.

Although Green has been performing at a low rate offensively, expect to see him stay in the rotation on Sunday as his defensive attributes will be in need.

1. Stud - Luka Doncic

In a huge win for the Mavericks, Luka Doncic has continued to prove that he’s debatably the best basketball player in the world.

In just 32 minutes of playing time, Doncic was able to put up 44 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Although that’s an impressive stat line, what stood out the most was the fact he shot 17-21 from the field and was 6-9 from behind the arc.

Doncic was knocking down big shot after big shot to keep increasing the Mavericks' lead throughout the night. The star guard was second in plus-minus with a plus 32 in the win.

After a great 7-2 start to the season for the Mavericks, what really has been impressive about Doncic is his contribution to the defensive side of the floor. For the first time in his career, critics are finally going to shut up about his defensive capabilities, as Doncic has proven to be very engaged on both sides of the floor.

Doncic is currently leading the NBA in points per game with 32.9. He’s also shooting 41.5 percent from three and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line per game, which are both career highs.

With these kinds of performances from Doncic lately, it should be a no-brainer to everyone that he’s the NBA MVP frontrunner this season.

For all the latest on Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks this season, stay tuned.