George blames Mavs’ blowout on Yuletide

LOS ANGELES • Paul George dismissed the Los Angeles Clippers’ 124-73 demolition at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks as “not that big of a deal” but it is fair to say Kawhi Leonard would have felt differently.

Leonard, the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) two seasons ago, sat out Sunday’s National Basketball Association (NBA) match-up after getting eight stitches in his mouth the game before and a return date has yet to be confirmed.

However, he watched the debacle unfold at the Staples Centre as the visiting Mavs powered to a league-record 77-27 lead at half-time.

Luka Doncic scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half. Josh Richardson added 21 points and Tim Hardaway Jr chipped in with 18 for the Mavs, who got off the mark after opening the season with two defeats.

They broke a record held by the Golden State Warriors, who led the Sacramento Kings by 47 points after two quarters in 1991.

The Clippers fell to their first defeat of the campaign after two victories over Western Conference rivals, with George, who had 15 points, Serge Ibaka (13) and Ivica Zubac (10) the only players to emerge with any form of credit.

But despite getting utterly dominated – Dallas were 29-for-50 (58 per cent) compared to nine-for-37 (24.3 per cent) for Los Angeles from the field – George claimed it was a one-off.

“Yes, we got our butts kicked today, but it’s one game,” the forward said.

“It was a tough game, coming from Christmas.

“I enjoyed my Christmas Day yesterday, today just popped up on me a little too fast. I take full responsibility. It’ll be a different situation next game. We will be ready.”

Doncic, who last season led Dallas to the play-offs for the first time since 2016 and gave the Clippers a fright in the first round, insisted it was less about how badly the hosts played but rather a true indication of his team’s potential after a shaky start.

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  Dallas’ half-time lead over the Los Angeles Clippers eclipsed the previous record when Golden State led Sacramento by 47 in 1991.

“We showed who we are. People judge us like first two games of season, it’s a long season,” the 2019 Rookie of the Year said. “We got to keep going like that. We got to play defence.”

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle agreed, challenging his players to “maintain that level of competitiveness”.

He added: “Our guys established a standard for collective toughness and will that we need to find a way to maintain.”

Over in the East, there was another upset as the New York Knicks, among the worst teams in the league for the past few seasons, stunned the Milwaukee Bucks, the top seeds for the last two years, 130-110 at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks’ win snapped a five-game losing streak against the Bucks, who swept all three games last season by a combined 91 points.

Julius Randle had a game-high 29 points for New York, who won for the first time under new coach Tom Thibodeau, while two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo paced Milwaukee with 27 points.

NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers, however, bucked the trend of shocks, routing the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-91 despite missing leading scorer Anthony Davis because of injury.

Last season’s Finals MVP LeBron James played only three quarters but his 18 points alongside a team-high 20 from Kyle Kuzma ended the visitors’ two-game winning start.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS