Mavericks blown out in game 5 loss

ORLANDO, Fla.—After a historic 21-point comeback to even up the series at 2-2, the Dallas Mavericks were blown out in game five of their opening round playoff matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday. The Mavericks will try to fight off elimination in game six Saturday.

Dallas won the tip and immediately scored on the opening possession when Tim Hardaway Jr. was able to knock down a 3-pointer. Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic hit a floater in the lane one minute later to push the lead to 8-2.

Looking like things were going to go the Mavericks’ way, they continued their early lead, with Hardaway Jr. knocking down another 3-pointer to make the Dallas lead 11-5. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, that was about as long as their good luck would last.

With Dallas leading 16- 9, the Clippers went on a giant 19-0 run to take a 25-16 lead. Dallas was only able to score six more points in the frame and would enter the second quarter trailing, 41-22.

Things didn’t get any easier for the Mavericks in the second quarter. The closest things got in the frame is when Mavericks’ big man Maxi Kleber threw down a dunk to make the score 58-42. Dallas was outscored in the frame 35- 30, and they went into the second half trailing, 76-52.

The Mavericks’ best quarter came in the third, when they put up a gamehigh 34 points in the frame. The Clippers were still able to outscore them in the quarter, and Dallas entered the final frame down by 25 points.

With the game all but over, the Mavericks chose to sit their starters for the majority of the fourth quarter, and the Clippers walked away with the win, 154-111. This loss puts Dallas down 3-2 in the series and will have them facing elimination in Saturday’s game six.

Doncic had his first down game of the series, finishing with 22 points on an inefficient 6-17 shooting. Doncic also had eight rebounds and four assists in the game.

Hardaway Jr. had a good game, posting 19 points on 7-14. Dallas was also helped by Trey Burke who gave the Mavericks 15 points and shot over 50% from the field.

Other notables were Kleber who had 12 points and backup guard Delon Wright who had 11. Wright shot 5-7 and knocked down the only 3-pointer he took.

For the Clippers, it was Paul George who showed up for the first time in the series. George led the game with 35 points in just 25 minutes of action. George had struggled all series leading into game five.

Game six between the two teams is set to be played Saturday at 8 p.m. and will be aired on TNT.