NBA PLAYOFFS
LOS ANGELES -- Led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Dallas Mavericks bounced back to take away home-court advantage from the Los Angeles Clippers and newly returned and rusty Kawhi Leonard.
Doncic scored 32 points, Irving added 23 and the Mavs won 9693 on 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.” Game 3 is Friday in Dallas. 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.”
The Mavs led most of the game two days after they trailed by 29 points and eventually lost 10997.
“We played 48 minutes of physical basketball,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “Both teams were under 100. It was ‘90s basketball at its best.”
Paul George and James Harden led the Clippers with 22 points each. Ivica Zubac had 13 points and 12 rebounds. The team shot 37% from the floor and made just 8 of 30 3-pointers.
Leonard appeared to pick up steam after halftime and was more active defensively.
“Kawhi is one of the best in the world,” George said. “He’s going to find his rhythm and we’re going to find our rhythm around him.”
Plagued by poor shooting and behind for much of the game, the Clippers began rallying in the third. Trailing by seven, they outscored the Mavs 19-10 down the stretch to take a 66-65 lead into the fourth. Doncic tied the game at 65-all before getting called for a technical. Harden’s free throw provided the narrow lead.
“It’s been a long time since he got a technical, so I think he was just trying to see if he could get a technical,” Kidd said. “He is using that to get himself going.”
Wolves 105 Suns 93 MINNEAPOLIS -- Jaden
McDaniels scored 25 points for a career best in the playoffs and spearheaded another stifling defensive performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 105-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns to take a 2-0 lead in their firstround series on Tuesday night.
Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert each added 18 points to help the Timberwolves offset the smothering of Anthony Edwards by the Suns, who held the All-Star to 15 points after allowing him 33 in the opener. Edwards went 3 for 12 from the floor.
The teams head to Phoenix for Game 3 on Friday night.
Pacers 125 Bucks 108 MILWAUKEE -- Pascal Siakam scored 37 points and Indiana overcame another fantastic firsthalf performance from Damian Lillard to beat Milwaukee and tie their Eastern Conference firstround playoff series at a game apiece.
Indiana snapped a 10-game playoff losing streak that began with a Game 7 loss to Cleveland in a first-round series in 2018. Two nights after scoring all 35 of his points in the first half of the Bucks’ 109-94 Game 1 victory, Lillard had 26 by halftime Tuesday and finished with 34.