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04/26/24 11:23:00
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04/26 23:21 CDT Luka Doncic and defensive-minded Mavs take a chippy 101-90 win
over Clippers for 2-1 series lead
Luka Doncic and defensive-minded Mavs take a chippy 101-90 win over Clippers
for 2-1 series lead
By SCHUYLER DIXON
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) --- Luka Doncic called out to his coaches during a flurry of
3-pointers from James Harden.
The Mavericks superstar and NBA scoring champion wanted to defend the star
guard of the Los Angeles Clippers.
It's suddenly defense first in Dallas.
Doncic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and the defensive-minded
Mavericks had a chippy 101-90 victory over the Clippers on Friday night to take
a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
The Mavs rode the same defense that gave them home-court advantage with a Game
2 victory in LA, and won in Dallas three years after losing all three
first-round games on their floor in a seven-game loss to the Clippers. Game 4
is Sunday in Dallas.
"I think we all see that when we're on the defensive side, there's a different
look in everybody's eyes," said rookie center Dereck Lively II, who had all 13
of his points in the first half as the Mavs got their lob game going with 10
dunks before the break. "It's like being aggressive and being the aggressor
even though they have the ball."
Daniel Gafford, Lively's tag-team partner as a dunker and rim protector, had an
emphatic block of a dunk attempt by Paul George early in the fourth quarter
while Dallas was taking control for good in a game with five technical fouls, a
flagrant foul and two ejections.
Harden scored 21 points for the Clippers, but just seven after halftime, while
fellow stars George and Kawhi Leonard had little impact.
Norman Powell also had 21, and Ivica Zubac had 19 points and eight rebounds.
But the Clippers had 19 turnovers and the Mavericks had seven blocks --- three
of them from Gafford and two from Lively.
George dealt with foul trouble and finished with seven points, five rebounds,
five assists --- and five fouls.
Leonard never looked comfortable in his second game back after missing nine
games with right knee inflammation and had nine points and nine rebounds.
"It just didn't respond the way we wanted after the first game," Leonard said
about his surgically repaired knee. "But we're going to get it right. Time will
tell. We're doing all the right things."
Kyrie Irving picked up his fourth foul early in the second half before scoring
19 of his 21 points in the final 13-plus minutes, including eight in the final
1:18 of the third quarter. Doncic's co-star was instrumental in Dallas
rebuilding an 18-point lead that had been cut to six.
An already testy game reached a boiling point midway through the fourth quarter
when Russell Westbrook slung Doncic around after fouling him.
Westbrook was called for a technical for that contact and for shoving P.J.
Washington after Washington confronted him. Washington also was called for a
tech during the sequence, and already had one from an earlier shoving match
with Terance Mann.
Westbrook, who in the first half got a flagrant 1 foul for excessive contact
when fouling Josh Green on a breakaway, and Washington were ejected.
Westbrook, who missed all seven shots and scored one point, drew the ire of the
crowd one other time when he bowled over Doncic after Zubac was called for a
foul as Doncic went up for a shot. Officials reviewed the play but ruled
Westbrook's contact incidental.
"We've got to channel our aggression in other ways," Clippers coach Tyronn Lue
said. "It's getting chippy. I like the physicality. I like the tough
possessions. I like all of that. But we've got to make sure we're not getting
the technical fouls, we're not getting thrown out of the game, because
everybody's important."
Doncic, who briefly left the court after limping off while grabbing his right
knee in the first quarter, was just 7 of 25 from the field and 3 of 14 from
3-point range.
But Dallas held George and Westbrook to a combined 1 of 10 from deep, while
Leonard didn't even have a 3 attempt among just seven shots in 25 minutes.
"He's trying to find his way back," Lue said. "We're just managing it. Just
being smart, making sure we do it right by Kawhi and seeing how he feels and
just kind of gauge it from there."
Harden scored 12 of his 14 first-half points with four 3-pointers in a
three-minute span starting in the final second of the first quarter. He didn't
score again until the final minute of the third as the Clippers finished with
19 turnovers while also losing their composure.
"We're all competing for each inch to find a way to win," Dallas coach Jason
Kidd said. "This series is going to be more mental as it goes on just because
of the physicality. I thought the guys did a great job of protecting one
another."
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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