LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – After splitting hairs with the Clippers through 4 games the Mavericks grabbed a crucial 105-100 win on the road to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Winning on the road is not a rarity in this series. Interestingly enough, both teams won both of their games on the road which is a tad bit off in the NBA postseason but this season alone has had it’s off moments.
It was a riveting start from the tip as Tim Hardaway Jr started the Mavericks first possession with a driving dunk attempt on Marcus Morris which was missed but a statement was made. Dallas started the first quarter on a 9-0 run knocking down their first 3 out 4 shot attempts and made the best out of their possessions, but the Clippers weren’t going down without a fight. After trailing for most of the first quarter the Clippers first lead came after they scored off of a Nick Batum steal and resulted in a 1 point lead.
You could tell early the game would be a dog fight like the playoffs should be and neither team was willing to give in.
Luka Doncic caught fire from beyond the arc in the latter stretch of the first quarter converting on 4 three pointers and helped the Mavericks regain and establish a 10 point lead with just over 2 minutes remaining in the quarter. The Mavericks rode the hot hand of Luka to finish out the quarter leading the Clippers by 7 points and Doncic finished with 19 points and converted on 7 out of 9 shots from the field and the closest player to his scoring total was Tim Hardaway Jr who scored just 4 points. Luka Doncic has carried this Mavericks team through the playoffs thus far but the question is when is it going to be too much for him to bear alone?
Things remained chippy throughout the second quarter and the Clippers found a way to neutralize Luka Doncic on the offensive end for most of the second quarter after his offensive eruption in the first quarter converting on 3 out of 8 of his shot attempts. 8 of the Mavericks managed to score through the first half but only Luka Doncic scored more than 10 points. The Mavericks saving grace was the fact the Clippers couldn’t go as deep in the rotation as they would’ve liked.
Dallas finished the first half leading the Clippers 56-54 and played a pretty efficient first half, but it was clear the Mavericks needed more production from other players not named Luka Doncic if they really wanted a shot at winning this road game.
The Mavericks sputtered to start the third quarter offensively and allowed the Clippers to get out ahead by 6 points at the most, but their troubles quickly ceased once Luka Doncic got warmed up. After finishing the first half with 27 points Luka scored followed up with a 13 point third quarter knocking down 60% of his shots and the team shot 48% from the field. Doncic’s performance propelled the Mavericks to 14 point lead at the end of the quarter of the cushion they needed to steal another game on the road.
Dallas officially hit a snag in the fourth quarter scoring just 6 points through almost 8 minutes of play in the fourth quarter and shot 19% from the field while the Clippers were above average from the field converting on 63% of their shots. Despite how efficient the Clippers were and how poorly the Mavericks played on offense, Dallas still maintained a 4 point lead well into the fourth quarter still leaving things up in the air and putting the Clippers on shaky ground.
Dallas officially put cracks in the Clippers foundation after back to back three pointers from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristaps Porzingis to give the Mavericks some more cushion as the time started to wind down. The Clippers pushed the Mavericks all the way to the end after a 6-0 run to bring the Mavericks lead to within 1 point, but the Clippers had to foul sending the Mavericks to the line where they knocked down all 4 of their shots from the line to seal the deal.
Luka Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined for a total of 62 points and were the only Maverick players to score in double digits.
Dallas really pulled one out of the hat considering the lack of production offensively from some of the players they looked to in the regular season for that production, but it was enough to take a one game lead in the series and a chance to finish things off at home. Let’s just hope the Mavericks keep that same energy when they touch back down in Dallas.
