Luka Doncic and James Harden got the most first-half buckets, but Terance Mann had the biggest dunk.
During Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks, the Clippers wing got a huge putback dunk that electrified the Crypto.com Arena crowd, as well as announcer Ian Eagle, who declared, “That’s a man’s jam … literally.”
Mann had to take a backseat offensively this season, as Kawhi Leonard returned from injury, James Harden arrived by trade and Russell Westbrook played a full season with the Clippers. But he nonetheless started 71 of his 75 games, playing whenever and wherever the Clippers needed him.
It was the work of role players like Mann that kept the Clippers within four points at halftime of Game 2. They matched Dallas’ two-headed monster of Doncic and Kyrie Irving by denying other Mavericks and holding them to 45 points in the first half.
Even the best defense, though, can’t deny Irving, no matter which hand he shoots with.
Los Angeles also forced turnovers, with Leonard nabbing three first-half steals and shooting mid-range jumpers like he hadn’t been out for three weeks.
Dallas led by four at the half, then trailed by a point to start the fourth quarter. Down the stretch, it will need their role players to step up like Mann did or they’ll be trailing 2-0 in the series and thrilling Clippers super fan Billy Crystal in the process.
To paraphrase Mark Jackson: Hand down, Mann down.
