Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Propel Dallas Mavericks to 2-1 Series Lead vs. Clippers

After leading by as many as 21 points, Dallas Mavericks superstars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in their home playoff debut as a duo.

Apr 26, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates after making a / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — With the chance to take a 2-1 series lead, the Dallas Mavericks achieved a 101-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. In their home playoff debut as a superstar tandem, Luka Doncic set the tone with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, while Kyrie Irving added 21 points and six assists.

The Mavericks overcame shooting just 9-34 (26.5%) from the perimeter by keeping turnovers low and having a strong performance in the paint, outscoring Los Angeles by a 52-38 margin. Another emphasis was to push the pace, resulting in 22 fastbreak points.

“I think defense dictated the offense," Doncic said. "I think we didn't play great offensively, especially me, but we won the game, that’s all that matters."

Apr 26, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates after making a / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavericks' starting lineup outside of the superstar backcourt stepped up. P.J. Washington had 10 points, five rebounds, three steals, and one block. Derrick Jones Jr. chipped in 11 points and three rebounds. Daniel Gafford, who began the day as questionable with back spasms, added eight points, four rebounds, three blocks, and two steals.

Dallas received 13 points and two blocks from Dereck Lively II, while Josh Green added eight points and five rebounds. Each player provided needed contributions defensively, helping provide needed depth to Dallas' continually improving defense.

The Clippers' leading scorers were James Harden and Norman Powell, who scored 21 points each. Ivica Zubac provided 19 points and eight rebounds. However, most of the Clippers' superstars struggled, with their offense turning the ball over 19 times and shooting 45.7% from the floor and 34.5% from the perimeter.

Kawhi Leonard looked in worse of a rhythm than in his return to the lineup, totaling only nine points, nine rebounds, and two assists and taking only seven shots in 25 minutes on a minute restriction. Paul George scored in single figures (nine points) while having an inefficient shooting night. Not only did Russell Westbrook get ejected, but he missed all seven of his shot attempts and scored one point in 19 minutes.

“He’s trying to find his way back,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Leonard. “We’re just managing it. Just being smart, making sure we do it right by Kawhi and seeing how he feels and just kind of gauge it from there.”

The Clippers emphasized the importance of staying disciplined with their defensive game plan in this game, particularly with running the right players off the line and closing short on others. Dallas was contained to 18 points in the first quarter but trailed just 23-18 at the end of the period. Neither Doncic nor Irving were in a rhythm.

After Irving went to the bench, Dante Exum checked into the game,, and the Mavericks began playing more out of Horns offensively while playing a double bigs lineup with Dereck Lively II and Maxi Kleber. However, the focus quickly shifted to Doncic's injury status.

After Doncic turned it over on a drive, he checked out of the game while bothered by a lower-body injury. He went to the locker room shortly after initially sitting on the bench and getting checked out by the training staff. He managed to check back into the game before the end of the first quarter, but after the game, he described his injury as being "not good."

“Not good, I felt it before I hit the knee," Doncic said. "It’s pretty stiff right now, but we’ll know more tomorrow. You know me, I’ll try to go anyway.”

Harden, who scored 14 first-half points, provided the Clippers with a series of timely step-back 3-pointers to maintain a lead early in the second quarter. Doncic began picking apart Los Angeles' defensive schemes with the two-man game with Lively, using various techniques to pick apart drop coverage and occassional blitzes.

Doncic began to heat up in the second quarter, including a step-back 3-pointer on the left wing in front of the Clippers' bench to push the Mavericks ahead. With Derrick Jones Jr. making a step-back 3-pointer in the corner, Dallas used a 12-0 run to lead 37-32 midway through the frame.

“I think we had a great start to the game, great energy like you said," Irving said. "We just fed off of that and tried to make the right plays. In a playoff game, Game 3, it can go either way, just depending on how you start and continue to be resilient in those next three quarters."

The momentum continued in the Mavericks' favor, including a possible and-one finish from Lively to go up by eight. While he missed the free throw, he made up for it with an emphatic rejection in the paint on the other end. Irving cut downhill to create another lob for Lively. Dallas had 13 total dunks in the game with 10 in the first half.

“I think we all see that when we’re on the defensive side, there’s a different look in everybody’s eyes,” Lively said. “It’s like being aggressive and being the aggressor even though they have the ball.”

The Mavericks went on to outscore the Clippers 36-18 in the second quarter, taking a 54-41 advantage entering the break. Before Terance Mann made two free throws at the 11:11 mark of the third period, the Mavericks were on a 31-9 with Doncic making another step-back 3.

"I think we did a good job of sticking to our game plan and being aware that they were going to make plays," Irving said. "So we had to be aware of some of their quick decisions, and be aware of T-Lue’s play calls out of timeouts. He has a pretty high percentage against us right now, so we obviously want to cut that down. When it gets to the gritty part of the game, I feel like we responded and kept our emoons. We were able to battle today and come out with this win, so it feels prety good.”

With Doncic continuing to guide the Mavericks' offense against the Clippers' switching and decision to flood the strong side, Dallas led by double figures for the entire third frame. A frequent approach deployed defensively was to disrespect Los Angeles' "weak" shooters like Westbrook and Mann, which paid off frequently in this game with their catch-and-shoot jumpers not falling.

After the Clippers narrowed the Mavericks' lead to 11, Doncic made a spray-out pass, trusting Maxi Kleber to convert on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, and it paid off. Dallas was back up by 14. The Clippers did not relent, however, using an 8-0 run to make it a six-point game. Fouling became an issue, including when Exum fouled on a 3-point attempt, resulting in Norman Powell making all three attempts.

Irving made a series of challenging plays to sustain the Mavericks' momentum to close out the third quarter, scoring the team's final eight points of the period. Between a 3-pointer, and a flashy pass fake on a drive leading to a scoop finish, and a flash for a pass and finish for an and-one, Irving was making big plays. Dallas led 78-67 entering the fourth quarter.

Doncic began the fourth quarter with an and-one floater to set the tone for the Mavericks. Irving answered with a 3-pointer, followed by Gafford recording an emphatic block on George's poster dunk attempt. Dallas was up by 17 points heading into a timeout when Terance Mann and Washington got into it, resulting in a double technical foul.

The Mavericks pushed their lead to 19 points at one point after Doncic pushed the break and connected with Washington for a thunderous alley-oop dunk. Harden answered with a step-back 3-pointer, but Dallas did not relent and continued to make timely plays.

The Mavericks began focusing on switch hunting offensively, with the first attempt of this stretch commanding a late double being applied on Irving after Doncic screened for him. Dallas ran the offense through Doncic more down the stretch with the Clippers' approach being to double Irving.

Irving gave the Mavericks their first 20-point lead with a fadeaway 3-pointer after a broken play, pushing their edge to 91-70. He scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half after being held to two points before halftime. He played through foul trouble for much of the game and still managed to be a guiding presence in the second half.

"It's the will and the heart of a champion. You've gotta get out of your own way," Irving said. "I think me maturing over the years has really taught me to let the game come to me."

Dallas intended to close the game with its preferred small frontcourt combination of Washington and Kleber to spread the floor and maximize defensive versatility through switching. However, Westbrook's dirty play prompted Washington to react and get a second technical foul, resulting in both players being ejected midway through the fourth quarter.

“We’ve got to channel our aggression in other ways,” Lue said. “It’s getting chippy. I like the physicality. I like the tough possessions. I like all of that. But we’ve got to make sure we’re not getting the technical fouls, we’re not getting thrown out of the game, because everybody’s important.”

After Powell finished a contested layup, the Clippers reduced the Mavericks' lead to 13 points. Irving fired right back by hitting a tough baseline jumper, providing another timely play to go back up by 15. He did it again by shooting over Zubac on a pull-up near the nail after shifting Zubac in pick-and-roll, maintaining his balance on the shot before falling on the landing, keeping Dallas up by 15. He checked out of the game with 2:47 left as Doncic was at the free throw line.

The Clippers put in their reserves for the remainder of the game, signaling the Mavericks had clinched the victory.

Both teams will play Game 4 of the series on Sunday at American Airlines Center.