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Clippers squander big lead before finishing off Mavericks

April 8, 2026

INGLEWOOD — The Clippers knew the challenges they faced on Tuesday night, starting with Dallas Mavericks rookie sensation Cooper Flagg.

In his previous two games, Flagg had scored 51 points against the Orlando Magic and backed it up two nights later with 45 points, nine assists and eight rebounds against the Lakers. The Clippers figured they were in for a similar experience from the hot-shooting forward.

So, they prepared by throwing a lot of bodies at Flagg, to prevent him from going one-on-one to the basket.

“I don’t think you can stop him. I think he’s gotten to that point where the game has slowed down for him as a rookie and he understands the floor game and how to play the game,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

Whatever the Clippers did, worked. They held Flagg to 25 points and nine rebounds, but they overlooked the rest of the Mavericks, squandering a 23-point lead and needing a late push to secure a 116-103 victory at the Intuit Dome.

The Mavs took their first lead at 78-77 on a 3-pointer by Klay Thompson with 3:20 left in the third quarter, followed by a layup from Ryan Nembhard. The Clippers responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Kawhi Leonard and free throws from Bennedict Mathurin for an 85-80 lead with 1:35 remaining in the quarter.

But the Clippers (41-38) still faced a threat to their hopes of strengthening a hold on eighth place in the Western Conference. With the victory, they lead the Portland Trail Blazers (40-39) by a full game with three games left in the regular season and a head-to-head matchup looming later this week in Portland.

Getting to the finish line Tuesday night wasn’t easy. The Mavs didn’t back down despite Leonard adding to his case for All-NBA honors with 34 points – his 55th consecutive game of at least 20 points – on 11-of-19 shooting from the field (6 for 10 from 3-point range). He also had four rebounds and three assists.

Leonard didn’t play in the fourth, content to watch the rest of the team close out the 13-point victory. Darius Garland finished with 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while John Collins added 12 points, Derrick Jones Jr. scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Kobe Sanders also had 11 points. Brook Lopez had nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Clippers ran out to a 17-0 lead before the Mavericks could settle into any rhythm. Flagg finally got them on the board with a driving layup and once he got going, he had 13 points in the first quarter.

Lue said the Clippers’ aim was to keep Flagg off balance, not let him get comfortable by blitzing and finding scoring opportunities. The Clippers did just that, keeping tabs on Flagg while building their 23-point lead.

“You know he’s a great one-on-one individual player, and so you got to kind of see how the game is going,” Lue said. “But we can’t let him get comfortable early either.”

And they didn’t. With Jones draped all over him, Flagg had just 15 points in the first 18 minutes.

The Mavericks, however, didn’t need to rely on Flagg to get back into the game. As Flagg watched from the bench, Dallas found ways to cut the Clippers’ lead to 39-30 in the second quarter.

Collins hit a 3-pointer to push the Clippers back up by 12, but they couldn’t build any significant momentum as Dallas continued to muscle its way to the basket to pull within five 45-40.

Dallas used a 38-15 run to eventually tie the score at 47 points with 4:15 remaining in the first half. The Clippers regrouped, took back the momentum and regained a double-digit lead for a 65-55 halftime advantage.

In addition to Flagg, Dallas had three other players in double figures. Marvin Bagley III had 21 points and nine rebounds, while Nembhard and Max Christie each had 12 points and Thompson scored 11.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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Clippers squander big lead before finishing off Mavericks

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