Dallas Mavericks stun L.A. Clippers, go up 2-0 behind Luka Doncic’s heroics
The Dallas Mavericks have stunned the Los Angeles Clippers after taking the first two games of the first-round playoff series at Staples Center.
The Mavs beat the Clippers, 127-121, Tuesday night behind another heroic performance from Luka Doncic.
Game 3 in the best-of-7 series is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Friday at the American Airlines Center.
The last time the Mavericks led a playoff series was in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 when they took a 2-1 lead.
Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining to stretch the lead to seven after the Clippers had chipped away at 14-point Dallas lead. He finished with 28 points.
“Gutsy win,” Hardaway said. “We did a great job of game-planning the past two days. We know what these guys are capable of. We’re not going to be celebrating and all of that nonsense. We know the type of team we’re going up against.”
The No. 4 seed Clippers beat the No. 5 seed Mavs in the playoffs last season.
Doncic led all Mavs scorers with 39 points on 16 of 29 shooting and added seven assists and seven rebounds. Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 41 points on 14 of 21 shooting. Kristaps Porzingis had 20 point on 8 of 12 shooting.
The Mavs made 48 of 82 shots from the field, their fourth-best shooting percentage in playoff history at .585.
LA led 73-71 at the half. Leonard led all scorers with 30 points. Doncic led the Mavs with 23.
Dallas led after the first quarter 35-33 as Maxi Kleber scored 12 of his 13 points in the quarter.
Of the past 31 teams to win the first two games on the road in a best-of-7 playoff series, 27 went on to win the series, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 12:08 AM.
