The Dallas Mavericks fell at home to the Los Angeles Clippers 116-111 Sunday afternoon, despite coming back from a mammoth 31-point deficit. It certainly wasn’t Kyrie Irving’s fault, as the star guard scored 40 points on 56% shooting to go with seven rebounds and five assists.
Two Maverick players that weren’t quite up to par, though, were P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. Neither made a major impact in a game that Dallas had to have. Irving and fellow superstar guard Luka Doncic, who had a 29-point triple-double, needed just one more player to step up and have a notable outing to support them. Unfortunately, it was too much to ask of this Mavericks supporting cast.
Washington, who scored 10 points on just 1-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc across 41 minutes, had a particularly embarrassing moment in the second quarter. After Clippers guard Paul George hit a three-pointer over him, the nine-time All-Star hit the same arm-crossing pose that Washington used in Game 3, via Overtime.
Washington is the main player that Dallas has looked to be the primary third option on offense, but he simply hasn’t been able to answer the call consistently. No team can win a championship with just two stars doing most of the work, and the Mavericks are learning that the hard way.
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