Biggest playoff comeback in franchise history
ORLANDO—Despite playing on a sprained ankle and without the help of teammate Kristaps Porzingis, Mavericks’ superstar Luka Doncic led to his team to a series tying 135- 133 win over the Clippers Sunday. Doncic hit a buzzer beater in overtime to give Dallas the win.
The Mavericks entered Sunday’s game trailing 2-1 in the opening round series against the Los Angels Clippers. The Clippers were a fairly heavy favorite, considering Doncic was playing the game with a sprained ankle, and Dallas was without its second best player, Porzinigs.
Dallas got off to a very slow start, trailing 34-24 at the end of the first quarter. Dallas got down by as many as 21 points in the second quarter, setting them up for their biggest playoff comeback in franchise history.
Dallas took control of the game with a 16-0 run in the third quarter to take their first lead of the game. The Mavericks entered the fourth quarter leading 93- 88. Dallas led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, before the Clippers came back to tie it in the final seconds.
Things stayed close for the entirety of overtime and the Clippers Marcus Morris hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining to give the Clippers a 1-point lead. The Mavericks inbounded the ball to Doncic, and the Clippers used their final foul with less than 4 seconds left, forcing Dallas to inbound the ball once again.
With 3.7 seconds on the clock and the Mavericks trailing by one, small forward Dorian Finney-Smith inbounded the ball once again to Doncic. With very little time to work with, Doncic immediately attacked the Clippers Reggie Jackson who was stuck having to guard Doncic on the final possession. Using a pair of crafty crossovers and his famous step-back move, Doncic was able to create enough space to get his shot off with .6 seconds left. Doncic hit the deep 3-pointer as time expired to give Dallas the 135-133 win.
The Mavericks’ 21-year old superstar finished with 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists, giving him his second straight triple-double. Doncic shot a very efficient 18-31 from the field and was 4-10 from behind the 3-point line.
Backup guard Trey Burke got the start Sunday and made the most of his time. He finished with 25 points, making 10 of his 14 shot attempts for the day, and went 4-5 from three.
Shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. also had a big offensive performance for Dallas, finishing with 21 points.
Off the bench, guard Seth Curry gave the Mavericks 15 points. Center Boban Marjanovic had a productive 16 minutes in which he gave Dallas 10 points and seven rebounds. The Mavericks had a point differential of +11 when Marjanovic was in the game.
Coverage of Tuesday’s game five between the Mavericks and Clippers will be published in upcoming additions of the News-Telegram. After that, they will play again Thursday at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Game seven of the series, if necessary, will be Saturday.