The Clippers survived. They survived the absence of their best player. They survived a late-game onslaught by the visitors. They won their postseason opener Sunday, taking down the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series, but they didn’t make a statement or prove a point in a 109-97 victory at Crypto.com Arena. They survived. As well as James Harden played in the first half, as big as Paul George came up in a two-minute stretch midway through the fourth... Read this story