Luka Doncic had 28 factors and 13 assists, Kyrie Irving scored 28 of his 30 factors in a second-half surge and the Dallas Mavericks superior to the second spherical of the playoffs with a 114-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday evening.
Doncic pushed via one other tough taking pictures evening together with his ailing proper knee to do what the Slovenian celebrity could not three years earlier — shut out the Clippers in Dallas in Recreation 6 of a first-round sequence.
The fifth-seeded Mavericks beat the Clippers for the primary time in three first-round tries over the previous 5 seasons and can open the Western Convention semifinals on the prime seed, Oklahoma Metropolis, on Tuesday evening.
Paul George had 18 factors and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who gained the primary two instances they performed with out Kawhi Leonard within the sequence however did not have sufficient scoring punch within the final two as he was sidelined by proper knee irritation.
James Harden had 16 factors and 13 assists however was simply 5-of-16 from the sphere and missed all six of his 3-pointers as LA was eradicated within the first spherical for the second consecutive season.
Irving, Doncic's co-star added on the commerce deadline final 12 months for the form of playoff run the Mavs hope they only began, gave Dallas its largest lead with a flashy four-point play when he hit a leaning 3-pointer as he was bumped by P.J. Tucker and made the free throw for a 106-82 lead.
The Clippers answered with an 11-2 run to get inside 13 however by no means critically threatened an enormous comeback within the closing minutes.
The Mavs broke a 52-52 halftime tie by outscoring the Clippers 35-20 within the third quarter — the identical quarter that fueled the Recreation 5 win in Los Angeles for an opportunity to clinch — and pushed the result in 20 early within the fourth.
Doncic, who additionally has handled sickness along with a sore knee, began 0-of-7 from 3-point vary to drop beneath 25% for the sequence, however made his first attempt of the second half to start out the third-quarter surge.
The NBA scoring champion was 9-of-26 from the sphere and simply 1-of-10 from 3 whereas going 9-of-11 on free throws. Irving was 10-of-13 from the sphere after halftime.
Norman Powell scored 20 for the Clippers, and Ivica Zubac had 17 factors and 11 rebounds.
P.J. Washington scored 14 factors with some huge 3-pointers for the Mavs, going 4-of-8 from deep, and Daniel Gafford had 13 factors with a number of emphatic buckets down low.
Dallas' Maxi Kleber did not return after spraining his proper shoulder when he took a tough fall on a blocking foul towards Amir Coffey on a drive within the first minute of the second quarter.
Kleber, whose 3-point taking pictures was a lift for Dallas within the sequence, returned to shoot free throws, making one in every of two earlier than leaving on the subsequent useless ball.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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