Mavericks move past Clippers

New York, Aug. 20: Luka Doncic has his first NBA postseason victory, though probably not the way he expected.

Instead of leading the Dallas Mavericks on the court, he was helping lead cheers from the sideline as his teammates pulled away while he sat.

Doncic scored 28 points and the Mavericks put together the pivotal run when he was out to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 127114 on Wednesday night and even the Western Conference playoff series at a game apiece.

“This is how we’re going to have to win games,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “Our depth is going to be a big part of it.”

Two nights after scoring 42 points in the highestscoring debut in postseason history, Doncic played just nine minutes in the second half because of foul trouble. He finished with eight rebounds and seven assists.

The 21-year-old picked up

Luka Doncic scored 28 points as Dallas Mavericks beat Los Angeles Clippers 127-114 and even the Western Conference playoff series at one game a piece.

his fourth foul less than a minute into the third quarter, shaking his finger toward the Dallas bench that he didn’t want to come out.

He stayed on then and, when he did come out toward the end of the period, Dallas put together a strong stretch of basketball. A finishing 14-4 spurt made it 98-85 entering the fourth.

And even after Doncic picked up his fifth less than a minute into the final period and had to go out again, the Mavs pushed the lead to 18 in the final 12 minutes.