The Mavericks – the Luka-less Mavericks – got Kawhied on Friday night.
You don’t win the NBA finals MVP twice without being able to rise to any occasion and Los Angeles Clippers’ forward Kawhi Leonard lived up to his pedigree in Game 3.
He dropped 36 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on the Mavericks in the Clippers’ 130-122 win that put them up 2-1 in the first-round series. He was, quite simply, unstoppable.
But even after his outrageous performance, the Mavericks weren’t about to panic.
In fact, defiance would be a better description of their postgame mood.