The Los Angeles Clippers had a prime opportunity to seize control of their series against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5. Instead, Paul George and Co. got blown at home, losing 123-93, and are now facing elimination in Friday night’s Game 6 in Dallas.
George had a bad night for the Clippers, scoring just 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting. The Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard and needed their other star to come out and set the tone for the team in a huge game, but that didn’t come close to happening.
George spoke after the game, saying, “You work your tail off all summer. You train for these moments. To where, if you fail, you fail. Live with the results.”
Shaquille O’Neal was not a fan of those comments and explained why during Thursday night’s Inside the NBA:
Paul George: You work your tail off all summer. You train for these moments. To where, if you fail, you fail. Live with the results.”
Shaq and Chuck don’t agree.
Shaq: When you’re that guy, you get all the money you get all the praise, you are expected to step up. pic.twitter.com/NyQH9qhrb7
Leonard will be out again for Game 6, so the Clippers will need George to put Game 5 behind him in a hurry or the franchise will have another early exit from the NBA playoffs.
The Dallas Mavericks are celebrating their first round series win over the Los Angeles Clippers by locking down the coach who helped them get there. On Monday, the franchise announced they had reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension with Jason Kidd.
Kidd, fresh off his third series win as head coach in Dallas, has been with the organization since the 2021-'22 season. In his first year at the helm he got an unmatched level of defensive buy-in from Luka Dončić and it resulted in a Western Conference finals appearance; there, the Mavs would fall to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.
Kidd's squad stumbled in his second season at the helm. They finished 38-44, 11th in the West, despite trading for Kyrie Irving halfway through the year. But it's safe to stay they bounced back. Doncic and Irving's partnership blossomed under Kidd and a series of moves at the trade deadline finally gave Dallas the ideal roster to surround the two superstars. The Mavericks wrapped up the 2023-'24 season with a 50-32 record, finished fifth in the West, and beat the Clippers in six games to move on to the second round of the postseason.
Extremely good vibes in Dallas, in other words. Great business sense by Kidd to negotiate his extension right now.
"We are excited to have coach Kidd continue to lead our team throughout the coming years with this well-earned contract extension," team governor Patrick Dumont said in the release. "Kidd led our team to two playoff appearances in three seasons, and we are looking forward to his leadership in continuing to build and grow this already great franchise."
"I have known Jason for a long time, and I cannot think of a better, more qualified candidate to lead this team going forward," general manager Nico Harrison said. "As a former NBA Champion Hall of Fame player, Jason brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role which cannot be duplicated. He has earned the trust and respect of our players and that of so many across the league, and I look forward to working alongside him as we continue to build upon the culture and foundation of success he's helped foster throughout his tenure as head coach."
Kidd's gone 140-96 in three seasons in Dallas and is now on board for a few more years. The pressure to deliver is always high when coaching a talent of Dončić's caliber, and Kidd has been rewarded for doing just that. He can now look ahead to the team's next series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with job security fully ensured.
When Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic walks on to a basketball court, he immediately becomes a threat to put up a triple-double.
In six years in the NBA, Doncic has been nothing short of a triple-double machine. He is already tied for eighth all-time in that category with 77—18 more than Hall of Fame forward Larry Bird, and 49 more than Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan.
As he makes his NBA Finals debut, it's worth looking back at the history of players reaching double figures in three of basketball's five major counting statistics (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) on the sport's biggest stage.
A triple-double, in basketball, is when a player hits three of the following statistical benchmarks in a single game: 10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 blocks or 10 steals. Hitting two is a more common double-double, while hitting four is an extraordinarily rare quadruple-double.
The NBA record for most career triple-doubles is held by Los Angeles Clippers guard Russell Westbrook with 199.
Since the advent of the NBA Finals, 23 players are known to have accomplished the feat, per StatMuse.
PLAYER
NUMBER OF TRIPLE-DOUBLES
LeBron James, Heat/Cavaliers/Lakers
11
Magic Johnson, Lakers
8
Draymond Green, Warriors
3
Larry Bird, Celtics
2
Jimmy Butler, Heat
2
Wilt Chamberlain, 76ers
2
Bob Cousy, Celtics
2
Walt Frazier, Knicks
2
NIkola Jokić, Nuggets
2
Bill Russell, Celtics
2
Charles Barkley, Suns
1
Elgin Baylor, Lakers
1
Dave Cowens, Celtics
1
Stephen Curry, Warriors
1
Tim Duncan, Spurs
1
Kevin Durant, Warriors
1
Jason Kidd, Nets
1
Jamal Murray, Nuggets
1
Scottie Pippen, Bulls
1
Rajon Rondo, Celtics
1
Wes Unseld, Bullets
1
Jerry West, Lakers
1
James Worthy, Lakers
1
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, with 11. James is the only player to accomplish the feat with three different teams, having registered triple-doubles with the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Lakers. He is also one of three players, along with ex-Los Angeles guard Jerry West and forward James Worthy, to record a triple-double in Game 7 of the Finals.
James spread his triple-doubles out, too: he recorded one in his much-maligned 2011 Finals, one in the 2012 Finals, two in the 2013 Finals, two in the 2015 Finals, one in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, two in the 2017 Finals, one in the 2018 Finals, and one in the 2020 Finals.
Just about 90 minutes before the opening tipoff of Game 5, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch made sure to point out an issue he has with the Dallas Mavericks and the officials working the Western Conference finals.
Finch was asked by The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski what he would like to see Anthony Edwards do better while guarding Mavericks star Luka Dončić in Game 5.
"He does a better job getting through all those illegal screens they set for Luka," Finch said.
"With Ant, what do you hope that he does well to at least make it a little bit hard on Luka?"
"He does a better job getting through all those illegal screens they set for Luka." - Chris Finchpic.twitter.com/iSDZUsjRPY
Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, who was named to the All-NBA Defensive second team this season, primarily handled the matchup against Dončić over the first three games of the series. But the Wolves swapped the assignment in Game 4, switching McDaniels over to Kyrie Irving and putting Edwards on Dončić.
Dončić averaged 32.7 points over the first three games of the series and scored 28 in Game 4, but Edwards had noticeably more energy on the offensive end while not having to chase Irving around on defense.
Game 5 between the Timberwolves and Mavericks is set to tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET Thursday at Target Center.
