They finally are whole, the return of Kawhi Leonard from right knee inflammation that kept the Clippers’ best player out for 23 days making them complete.
But for the Clippers to defeat the Dallas Mavericks again in a Western Conference playoff series, Leonard was going to need his teammates to carry most of the weight until he gets his game and physical condition back to the high level he’s accustomed to.
They could not.
As a group, the Clippers could not shoot straight, their inability to make shots against a stingy and physical Mavericks defense leading to a 96-93 loss to Dallas on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena in Game 2.
By making only 36.8% of their shots and 26.7% of their three-pointers, the Clippers have lost the home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series that’s tied at 1-1.
“Just offensively being better, playing with more pace, getting into the paint a little bit more,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We missed a lot of …