DALLAS, TX – The Dallas Mavericks (33-23) beat the LA Clippers (27-30) 112-105 tonight for their fourth straight win in a week.
Luka Doncic started the game off hot with 28 points in the first quarter. Doncic is the first player to score 18 or more points in a quarter since James Harden in November of 2019. He continued his tremendous shooting, finishing with 32 points in the first half collecting seven three-pointers. He leads the NBA this season with most points scored in a half at 32.
Doncic’s knock down shooting led the Mavs to a nine point win going into the half 59-50.
Mavs opened the third quarter going on a 6-2 run bringing their lead to 65-52 and the lead continued to grow in the third. Mavs were up 13 with eight minutes remaining and took an eight point lead to enter the fourth quarter.
The Clippers come back within five points with seven minutes remaining in regulation. Mavs start to heat it back up after an alley-oop by Dorian Finney-Smith from Jalin Brunson and a 26-ft jump shot by Reggie Bullock from Luka Doncic put Dallas back up 102-94.
The Mavs held it from there to take a 112-105 victory. This was Dallas’s fourth straight win in a week and they have one more home game on Saturday before hitting the road for a five-game road trip.
The Clippers will have a chance to redeem themselves as they will be back here in American Airlines Center on Saturday to take on Dallas once again at 7:30 PM.
Dallas did decide late today that they were going to trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. They will also get a 2022 second round pick in the NBA draft.
General Manager Nico Harrison said, “It wasn’t about his availability, it was more about making the team better.”
