Can the LA Clippers take a 2-0 series lead, or will the Dallas Mavericks even things up in Game 2?
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00:00 The LA Clippers kicked off their first round series of Dallas Mavericks with a win on Monday
00:04 night, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 118-110 victory.
00:07 It was a very closely tested battle, one that likened the Clippers fans uncomfortable at
00:12 times.
00:13 After going up 18-2 in the early minutes of the game, the Mavericks stormed back and earned
00:16 a 16-point deficit into a 14-point lead in the second quarter.
00:20 LA's second half defense is ultimately what won the game as the Clippers managed to hold
00:24 Dallas at just 41 points over the final 24 minutes after allowing 38 in the first quarter
00:29 alone.
00:30 LA has a 1-0 lead in the series because of it, but it was an ugly and unsatisfying win.
00:36 Now the Clippers have a chance to take a commanding 2-0 series lead, but it will take a much more
00:40 disciplined effort on the defensive end of the floor to get the job done.
00:44 Injury report for tonight's game.
00:45 On Tuesday, the Clippers released a clean injury report for the first time in months.
00:48 Unfortunately, it didn't last long.
00:50 Patrick Beverly has since been added to the team's report due to a calf injury, the same
00:54 one that cut him out of a handful of team's seeding games.
00:57 It's not a serious or severe injury by any means, but Doc Rivers has previously said
01:01 the team plans to be cautious with him moving forward.
01:03 So Beverly is officially listed as questionable head of game two, which is the same designation
01:07 he had before game one.
01:09 So I would say odds are he plays, but we won't know until we get closer to it.
01:13 For Dallas, Chris "Daps" Porzingis and Trey Burke are both considered probable to participate
01:16 in game two.
01:17 Some key storylines for tonight's game.
01:20 For LA, it's Montrezl Harrell's progression with the second unit.
01:23 He made his bubble debut on Monday, turning to NBA action for the first time since March
01:28 10th.
01:29 He logged six points and two rebounds in just under 15 minutes of action and looked expectedly
01:36 winded at times.
01:38 His minute cap may not be raised significantly in game two, but there's a good chance he
01:42 gets five or so minutes more than he did on Monday, which is big news for LA's bench.
01:46 The 26-year-old was recently named a finalist for this year's Sixth Man of the Year award,
01:51 and deservedly so.
01:52 On the season, he's averaging 18.6 points per game and leading the NBA's top-scoring
01:56 second unit, which scored 51 points per game this year.
02:00 LA's bench produced half of that average on Monday, as Harrell, Lou Williams, and Jamekel
02:06 Green went for just 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
02:10 Reggie Jackson and Landry Schamett, who also came off the bench in game one, were 0-of-6
02:14 from the floor.
02:16 If Harrell starts to look even a bit more like himself on Wednesday, which again, it's
02:19 not his fault that he hasn't yet, the Clippers should feel very confident in the second unit
02:23 moving forward.
02:25 For Dallas, the main storyline is Kristaps Porzingis and technical fouls.
02:29 Mavericks phenom Luka Doncic went off for 42 points in game one, which is the most points
02:34 scored by a player to playoff debut in league history.
02:37 However, that feat was unfortunately overshadowed by the ejection of Kristaps Porzingis.
02:42 The 7-footer was tossed early in the second half of Monday's contest after escalating
02:46 an incident between Doncic and Marcus Morris, picking up his second technical foul of the
02:51 day in the process.
02:52 Many viewed the ejection as weak, including LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, and assuming
02:56 Porzingis plays in game two, he'll be as motivated as ever to carry his team to victory.
03:01 For prediction for tonight's game, I think if the Clippers give a more disciplined defensive
03:04 effort, it'll be very hard for the Mavericks to come out on top in game two.
03:08 Otherwise, LA can end up in a shootout with what is the league's most potent offense,
03:13 and that's a place that no team wants to be in right now.
03:16 That said, given LA's dominance in this series throughout this season and this playoff series
03:20 so far, and the fact that when held, these Clippers are 11-1 on the year with a full
03:26 roster available, it doesn't feel like Kawhi Leonard and the rest of the team are going
03:29 to slip up on this one.
03:30 I've got the Clippers taking game two by a final of 119-105.
03:35 You can watch game two between the Clippers and Mavericks tonight at 9pm Eastern Time.
03:40 The game will air on TNT and Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
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