2020-21 Mavericks’ Flashback: December 27th vs Los Angeles Clippers

The season is over for the Dallas Mavericks. Now, all eyes are on the offseason and August 2nd when teams can begin negotiating with free agents.

But we of all people know that waiting for the next big free agent to sign with the Mavericks can be stressful. And basketball should be fun. We also know the real Mavericks basketball junkies can’t wait until October when the 2021-22 season is supposed to start. This is why we’ll do flashback posts, to relive some of the fun and forgotten moments of the past season.

What happened

The Mavericks got their first win of the season on December 27th in a 124 to 73 blowout win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Luka Dončić scored 24 points, and Josh Richardson added 21 for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks jumped on the Clippers from the start. The Clippers trailed 77-27 at halftime, with their 50-point deficit being the largest at the break in the shot-clock era, which began in 1954-55, per ESPN.

Fun moment

The game was decided in the first quarter when the Mavericks led by 23 points. But there was a fun moment late in the third quarter when the Clippers tried to catch a break with a zone defense. The Mavericks ran a “cross ball screens” play that they used all season against the zone. The play is a version of a popular NCAA Zone set “Zone Cross Lob”, where two wings set cross-screens to clear the ballhandler driving lane to the middle of the floor.

The Mavericks were one of the best teams in the NBA playing against the zone during the 2020-21 season. Per Synergy, Dallas scored 1.167 points per possession against the zone, which ranked them 4th in the league. The “cross ball screens” action was one of the primary actions in Rick Carlisle’s 202-201 playbook, used to attack zone defenses.

On to the next one!