Here are five takeaways from the Clippers-Mavericks Game 1 showdown:
With no Leonard, the onus shifted toward the other collection of L.A. stars to get the job done at home. Harden was the catalyst of what turned out to be a dominant and balanced Clipper attack.
Harden led the way with 28 points on 8 of 17 shooting overall, 6 of 11 from deep and 6 of 6 from the foul line to go with eight assists, two rebounds and two blocks.
Paul George added 22 points, Ivica Zubac dominated down low with 20 and both Terance Mann and Russell Westbrook chipped in with 13, the latter doing so off the bench.
On the other hand, the star Dallas duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving didn't get the help they needed to contest Los Angeles.
Doncic led the team with 33 points but wasn't too efficient, scoring 11 of 26 attempts overall, 4 of 12 from deep and 7 of 8 from the foul line. He added 13 rebounds, six assists and a steal. Irving recorded 31 points on 10 of 18 shooting overall, 3 of 6 from deep and 8 of 9 from the foul line to go with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The only other Maverick to eclipse double-digit point totals was P.J. Washington, who scored 11 on 4 of 10 shooting overall. Tim Hardaway Jr. mustered just six points in 16 minutes off the bench while Maxi Kleber had three in 27 minutes as a reserve.
Much of the reason for Los Angeles' success in the opener boiled down to 3-point conversions. The Clippers went 18 of 36 (50%) as a team while the Mavs made only 10 of 33 (30.3%).
Harden and George combined for 10 triples as a duo, while players like Mann (3 of 3) and Westbrook (2 of 4) enjoyed hot outings themselves.
It might not be sustainable, but every margin counts in a playoff scenario. The Clippers just controlled them all despite not having arguably their best player.
Zubac hasn't always fared well against the Mavericks in playoff matchups, but his Game 1 performance illustrated his importance to this Clippers team.
