Clippers Crumble without Kawhi Leonard

This past Sunday, we witnessed one of the worst defeats in NBA history. In the early afternoon game, the Los Angeles Clippers took on the Dallas Mavericks in LA.  The Mavericks won 124-73, a 51-point loss. While the Clippers are a team with high expectations, they were without their best player Kawhi Leonard who suffered a mouth laceration on Christmas Day.  Many Clippers fans would argue, however, that with the team’s abundance of talented players this is not an excuse to lose by a margin of over 50 points. Others would reason that this may be more of a testament to Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.  Even without their star player Kristaps Porzingis, the Mavericks took the lead with Leonard scoring or assisting on 44 points — more than the Clippers starting 5 scored in total. With the Mavericks taking on a strong lead, the Clippers could not slow them down. Luka Doncic finished with 24 points 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 26 minutes. Josh Richardson scored 21 points in 27 minutes. Additionally, Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 18 points in 23 minutes. The Mavericks as a team shot 49 percent from the field as opposed to the Clippers who shot 34 percent. There was virtually no positive for the Clippers as no one scored over 15 points, and they could not seem to cut the lead during the game. Without staring player, Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers were not cut out for this playoff run.