DALLAS – Luka Doncic did not say much after the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 114-101 at home on May 3 to advance to the second round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs.
All the Slovenian star wanted was a break, after battling a knee issue and also dealing with illness, but still managing to help his team to a 4-2 Western Conference first-round series win.
He scored 28 points with 13 assists and seven rebounds and Kyrie Irving scored 30 – 28 in the second half – as the Mavs gained a measure of revenge against a Clippers team who ousted them at this stage in 2020 and 2021.
“He’s amazing,” Doncic said of Irving, who won a title with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and who joined Dallas only in 2023. “Never count him out – it’s amazing just having him on our team.”
Before walking away from his interview that lasted under a minute, he added: “Terrible, man. I need some rest.”
Dallas led by 13 in the second quarter only for the Clippers, missing their injured star Kawhi Leonard, to tie it up by half-time at 52-52. But Irving’s driving layup in the first minute of the third quarter put the Mavericks ahead for good.
It was just the beginning of his dazzling second-half display that also featured an off-balance three-pointer as he was fouled, with Irving converting the free throw to push the Mavs’ lead to 24 points.
His performance had former teammate James tweeting his admiration, but he also credited Doncic for the win.
“We’re pushing each other off the court to be better, and then when we get on the court it’s just like synchronicity,” Irving said of their partnership. “It feels good.”
Dallas next face the Oklahoma City Thunder on May 7, the surprise Western top seeds who swept New Orleans 4-0.
The series will offer a tantalising match-up between Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, both Most Valuable Player award finalists along with Nikola Jokic – whose reigning champions Denver Nuggets face Minnesota in the second round.
In the other play-off game on May 3, hosts Orlando forced a decisive Game 7 against Cleveland despite 50 points from Cavs star Donovan Mitchell.
The Magic dominated late to overcome a heroic performance from Mitchell, beating the Cavaliers 103-96 to tie their Eastern Conference first-round series at 3-3. The Cavs host Game 7 on May 5.
Paolo Banchero scored 10 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a three-pointer that put Orlando ahead for good with 3min 39sec left to play in a tight back-and-forth battle.
Franz Wagner added 26 points and Jalen Suggs made six three-pointers on the way to 22 in what Wagner called a “full team effort”.
He added: “Obviously, Mitchell had an amazing game, but we stuck with it and got stops when we needed it. The whole group just stayed with it.”
Mitchell was clearly troubled by a nagging knee injury but nevertheless had all 18 of the Cavs’ fourth-quarter points.
To advance to a second-round series against the Boston Celtics, the Magic will have to do what neither team have done this series and win on the road.
“I’m excited. It’s a do-or-die situation, so we’ll have to put together another special effort,” Banchero said.
In other news, Darvin Ham was fired as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers on May 3, four days after the team were ousted from the play-offs by Denver, the club announced.
Ham went 90-74 in two seasons with the Lakers, but the team were swept by eventual NBA champions Denver in last season’s Western Conference Finals and eliminated in five games in the first round by the Nuggets this term. AFP
