The Los Angeles Clippers pledged to prepare for Game 1 without Kawhi Leonard, and then proved it

LOS ANGELES — 11 times this season, the Los Angeles Clippers have started a game in the afternoon. And each of those 11 times, the Clippers had a double-digit deficit at some point in the game. The Clippers have come back to win six of those 11 games, including a 26-point turnaround against the Cleveland Cavaliers this month.

With Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks starting at 12:30 PM PT, questions have been raised about how well the Clippers will perform at a time of day when they haven't always played their best. Tyronn Lue acknowledged the start of the afternoon for the team and emphasized their need to hit the ground running.

“We can't go into the game easily,” Lu said Sunday morning. “We have to have an attacking mentality on both ends of the field. So we don't want to come in and try to dilute the game. And I know guys talk about the 'feel-out game' — no. We're going to win the game. And so, we're not trying to feel anything out. We have to go for it.

That's what happened Sunday afternoon as the Clippers led by as many as 29 points in the first half of Game 1 and outscored the Mavericks 109-97 to take a 1-0 lead. The Clippers never trailed while maintaining a 38.8 percent advantage over the Mavericks and outscoring the Mavericks 22-8 in the second quarter.

“Especially at home, you want to take care of business at home,” said Clippers star Paul George, who overcame a five-point halftime lead to finish with a season-high 22 points. “Being the team with home advantage, it is very important that we start on the right note.”

A good start to the series was essential because Kawhi Leonard did not play in Game 1. Leonard was listed as questionable before Sunday's game, and according to the team, he is progressing day by day to resolve right knee inflammation that has kept him in the NBA Finals twice. The best player has been out since his last match on March 31. The team's recent four-game winning streak in the regular season, a stretch that included comeback victories against the Denver Nuggets and Cavaliers, prepared the Clippers to play without him.

“We prepared like he was obviously going to make a play,” Mavericks MVP finalist Luka Doncic said. “But that shouldn't change our mentality. Their mentality was next man up, and they did very well. We just have to stay focused for 48 minutes. It's the playoffs so we have to stay focused for 48 minutes.”

The hurdle the Clippers had to overcome, especially without Leonard, was their bad habit of trailing by double digits in every morning game this season. The issues often arise defensively, characterized by a lack of energy, before finding a way to play the kind of defense in the second half of games that allows a comeback to occur.

But in Game 1, the Clippers found that defensive spark from the jump. While Dončić had 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the first quarter, he missed four of five 3s while failing to pass for an assist in the period, and the rest of the Mavericks missed 9-of-12 shots. In the second quarter, Dončić was held scoreless on five shot attempts, while the Mavericks missed 19 of 21 shots overall in an eight-point span. Dallas was tied without a field goal in the final 7:18 of the first half, missing 12 straight shots.

“In a playoff game, scoring eight points seems like forever, and that's what it felt like out there,” Irving said. “I think it started with the way we started the second quarter and we allowed them to get too comfortable in that first quarter and there was carryover. I think we've got to give them credit for making shots and doing the right thing. Taking advantage of our turnovers and lack of physicality. So, it was a combination of A lot of those things where we let them get comfortable offensively and we made it easier defensively just in terms of our spacing.

In the end, Dallas got 33 points from Doncic (11-of-26 field goals), 31 points from Irving (20 on a perfect third quarter) and 33 points from every other player on 10-of-36 shooting (27.8 percent). That mirrors the Clippers' win on Nov. 25 in the Mavericks' last visit to Los Angeles, when Doncic scored 30 points, Irving had 26 and the rest of the Mavericks had 32 points on 11-of-42 shooting (26.2 percent) for 107 points. – Clippers win 88. The additions of power forward P.J. Washington and center Daniel Gafford did little to change the equation.

“We had the opportunity to develop a game plan,” Lue said after the Clippers held the Mavericks to 30 points in the first half, shooting 22 percent in the first game. “We had four or five days to really understand what they were doing and understand what they were doing.” . We want to take away what we are willing to give up. So, I thought our guys were pretty good. We have to be better. We understand that. But for the most part, just looking at it, I thought our scheme was really good. So, coming into Game 2, we have to clean up some things and kind of go from there.

Offensively, the Clippers relied on other options to take advantage of the strong defense in the early afternoon. Center Ivica Zubac, who played on the road three years ago against Dončić and the Mavericks, held his own defensively and punished the Mavericks early and often with post-ups. Zubac recorded a double-double in the first half and finished with 20 points on 10-of-17 shooting, giving the Clippers offensive versatility without Leonard available.

“I know we are a great defensive team and I have to be one of the leaders on the defensive end,” Zubac said. “This is something I've been doing for this team for a while. No matter who it is, I have to stick to the game plan. They will make shots. Luka, Kyrie, they will make strong shots. But we have to make it more difficult for them.”

Playing in afternoon games has also been an issue for James Harden this season, especially since those games often come on weekends. Harden shot just 37 percent from the field on Saturdays and 35.3 percent from the field on Sundays this season. But without Leonard, Harden was ready on Sunday afternoon, scoring 20 of his team-high 28 points in the first half.

“It's going to be different matchups,” Harden said after he was guarded by Washington for the first half and Derrick Jones Jr. to start the second. “They tried Luca. I mean for me my mentality doesn't change.”

The dreaded afternoon start time in Game 1 has been answered, but it will be a factor again in this series at least one more time. Dallas will host the Clippers next Sunday in Game 4 in a match scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. locally. If the series goes to seven games, Game 7 will likely begin Sunday afternoon as well.

But the Clippers answered the regular season question with an outstanding performance in the playoffs, and they did it without Leonard. If nothing else, the Clippers are fully into the postseason now.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” Harden said. “The second game, teams are going to make their adjustments. They're going to find out things that didn't work, you know what I mean? And try to correct those things. So for us, it's just about finding out what worked, finding out what didn't work and things we can improve on and then we can control what We can control it and then not focus on anything else.

(Photo: Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)