BY: ROBERT ANTHONY MORALES – SPORTS ON AIR US CONTRIBUTOR
LOS ANGELES — The Dallas Mavericks are one win away from reaching the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Luka Doncic scored 32 points and dished 10 dimes in a master class performance that led the Mavericks to an easy 123-93 demolition of the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 of their best-o-7 series Wednesday night at the Crypto.com Arena.
Kyrie Irving had a modest 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting but he had a huge impact on the game with his playmaking and defense, helping the Mavs hold the Clippers to an abysmal 33-of-87 shooting from the field (37.9 percent) including just 9-of-35 from 3-point range.
Per ESPN stats, teams that win Game 5 of a best-of-7 series that is tied at 2-2 go on to advance 82 percent of the time. Game 6 is Friday night (Saturday morning in Manila).
After struggling with his shooting early on in the series, Maxi Kleber came to life with five 3-pointers. Jaden Handy added 14 points off the bench while Derrick Lively II registered 12 points and 7 rebounds.
“I think it was a very big game. We win, and now we’ve got to win one out of two. We’ve got to go back to Dallas and play the same way,” Doncic said at his post-game press conference.
Despite the 30-point blowout, Clippers coach Ty Lue insisted that there is no “emotional letdown” for his team.
And there is hope for optimism given that Los Angeles won Game 4 in Dallas just two nights before.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac led the Clips with15 points apiece, but there was little help elsewhere as James Harden missed 10 of 12 shots and scored just 7 points.
Kawhi Leonard, the Clips leader and biggest star, did not play due to knee soreness.
“That wasn’t who we’ve been in this series, and that’s not who we are. We’ve got to be better, especially in this situation, George said after his team got embarassed on its home floor.
