LA Clippers Eliminate Dallas Mavericks, Advance to Second Round of Playoffs

Behind a monster game from Kawhi Leonard, the LA Clippers closed out their first-round series with the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

The LA Clippers eliminated the Dallas Mavericks from the NBA Playoffs on Sunday afternoon, winning 111-97 in Game 6 behind a monster performance from Kawhi Leonard.

The superstar forward logged 33 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in 40 minutes of action, becoming the first player to record such a line in the postseason since Michael Jordan did on May 13, 1989.

It was a near-perfect showing, and it came at the perfect time for LA, as the Clippers are officially moving on to the Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2015. 

Like Game 5, Sunday afternoon's contest was one that the Clippers were in control of from the jump. Dallas stayed engaged and kept things competitive through the first half of play, but it never quite felt that the game was in doubt for LA — even when Marcus Morris was ejected for a flagrant foul near the end of the first quarter.

The Clippers built a lead as high as 23 points in the third quarter, and while the Mavericks did manage to get the deficit back under 10 in the fourth, it was mostly smooth sailing in the second half.

In addition to Leonard, Ivica Zubac and Paul George each had strong outings as well. Zubac recorded 15 points and 11 rebounds and was a team-high +33, while George nearly triple-doubled with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

The Clippers will go on to face either the Denver Nuggets or Utah Jazz in the second round and will be favored over each. As it stands, Utah holds a 3-2 lead in the series going into tonight's Game 6.