DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers first round playoff series is now tied 2-2 after LA earned a 116-111 victory on Sunday.
Dallas made a comeback attempt after trailing by 31 points, and the Mavs even led 105-104 with over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. In the end, though, the Mavs fell just short.
The Mavericks have struggled with the three-point shot during the series. Their frustrations continued on Sunday, as Dallas shot just 33.3 percent from deep. Meanwhile, the Clippers converted on 62.1 percent of their three-point attempts.
Derrick Jones Jr. played well in game 4, though. He scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting from the field and 2-3 shooting from deep. Jones added seven rebounds and guarded Clippers star Paul George on defense.
Despite playing respectable defense on George, the Clippers star simply could not miss in Game 4. George and James Harden led the Clippers with 33 points each. Additionally, George shot an attention-catching 7-10 from three-point range.
So how can the Mavs contain George and the Clippers’ three-point attack moving forward in the series?
“Just getting closer, trying to make them drive the ball,” Jones said. “Make them put the ball on the floor and try to get to the rim and try to finish over our bigs.”
Kyrie Irving, who led Dallas with 40 points, gave the Mavericks a 105-104 lead with 2:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks had momentum and the Clippers were forced to call a timeout.
The energy was great at the American Airlines Center, and it seemed as if Dallas was on the verge of earning a huge Game 5 win. Paul George had another idea in mind, though.
George immediately found the bottom of the net on an incredibly difficult three-point attempt from the corner. Jones played terrific defense on George, yet the future Hall-of-Famer still connected on the shot. The Clippers did not look back following George’s shot.
“(George) got the ball in the corner, I tried to jam him in the corner so they couldn’t get up,” Jones said. “Made a move, step back right back to the corner… He just hit a good shot. It’s a tough shot. Ain’t much to say about it.”
When asked if he was surprised it went in, Jones got brutally honest.
“Hell yeah I’m surprised. I played good defense… He hit a tough shot. Got to tip your hat, going to see him back in LA.”
“Derrick was great,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s been great. Being able to knock down threes, being able to drive the ball, being able to get to the rim, making plays. And then defensively we’ve asked him to guard everybody. He’s doing that… We’re going to need that throughout this series and we’re going to need that on Wednesday.”
Jones has high expectations for himself. He believes he could have been better on the defensive end of the floor in Game 4.
“I did okay, could have been better defensively,” Jones said. “Probably could have created a few more open looks for my teammates. My main thing was on the defensive end I think I could have been a lot better.”
Nevertheless, there is no denying the fact that Derrick Jones Jr. has been and will continue to be an important player for this Mavericks team in the NBA playoffs.
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