Clippers Open playoffs with a split
Leonard had 15 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes of his first game since March 31. He hadn’t played or had any contact practices during that stretch because of inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee.
Earl Heath
Contributing Sports Writer
After trailing by as many as 29 points, the Mavericks couldn’t rally back from the deficit as the Los Angeles Clippers rolled to a 109-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
James Harden scored 28 points and Ivica Zubac set his playoff career high with 20 while adding 15 rebounds as the Clippers made a statement in Game 1 of a first-round Western Conference series wit 109-97 win over the visiting Dallas Mavs. After trailing by as many as 29 points, the Mavericks couldn’t rally back from the deficit.
The No. 4-seed Clippers were playing without star Kawhi Leonard because of knee inflammation, but they had plenty to get past the Mavericks with 22 points from Paul George, while Terance Mann and Russell Westbrook each added 13. Mann had nine rebounds while Harden had eight assists.
While James Harden revealed the Clippers knew Leonard wouldn’t play two days before Game 1, the Mavericks had to prepare without knowing if he would. Leonard was listed as questionable due to right knee inflammation but wasn’t ruled out until pre-game media.
Doncic finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, while Kyrie Irving added 31 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Irving had an efficient scoring display—going 10-18 (55.6%) from the floor, 3-6 (50.0%) from deep, and 8-9 (88.9%) on free throws—after a slow start. Doncic had an uncharacteristically inefficient display, shooting 11-26 (42.3%) overall and 4-12 (33.3%) from deep, but he did shoot 7-8 from the free throw line.
Outside of Doncic and Irving, the Mavericks just got 33 points from the rest of the team, shooting a combined 10-36 (27.8%) overall and 3-15 (20.0%) on 3-point attempts. P.J. Washington was the only other player to score in double figures with 11 on the night, while Derrick Jones Jr. went scoreless as a starter, and Daniel Gafford had three.
“Obvoiously Kawhi puts us well over the top, but we still have more than enough,” said Paul George. “The luxury we have is experience with James, myself, Russ; (Norman Powell) has been in big playoff battles. …
The Tide was turned in game two as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, helped the Mavericks bounced back to take away home-court advantage from the Los Angeles Clippers and newly returned and rusty Kawi Leonard.
Doncic scored 32 points, Irving added 23 and the Mavs won 96-93 tuesday night to tie their Western Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
“Obviously it was a must-win and everybody was locked in,” said P.J. Washington Jr., who had a big fourth quarter and finished with 18 points. “They punched us in the mouth in Game 1 and we just wanted to respond.”
Leonard had 15 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes of his first game since March 31. He hadn’t played or had any contact practices during that stretch because of inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee.
“I felt good,” Leonard said. “We still got more games to play and more time to get better. Just keep trying to get a rhythm back.”
