Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Leonard leads way in series clincher
Scores 33, grabs 14 boards as Clippers dispatch Mavs
Kawhi Leonard had 33 points and 14 rebounds and the second-seeded Clippers eliminated Luka Doncic and the seventh-seeded Mavericks from the playoffs with a 111-97 victory Sunday in Game 6 of the Western Conference first-round series at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Doncic capped a superb first postseason with 38 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, keeping it interesting into the fourth quarter even while playing without injured teammate Kristaps Porzingis.
But with Leonard reaching the 30-point mark for his career-best fifth straight playoff game and a strong defensive effort, the Clippers simply had too many answers.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac added 15 points apiece for the Clippers, who turned up their defense in this one after winning Game 5 with the best offensive performance in their postseason history, when they shot 63% and romped to a 154-111 victory.
Perhaps it was too much to ask to be that sharp again after a four-day layoff, but they didn’t need to be even while playing most of the game without starting forward Marcus Morris, who was ejected from the contest for a flagrant foul against Doncic in the first quarter.
Leonard also had seven assists and five steals. The Clippers said he was the first player in at least the last 20 postseasons with 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game.
The Mavericks had only two field goals in the first six minutes of the third quarter, both by Doncic, and by the time he made the second the Clippers had opened the half with a 20-3 run that turned a six-point lead into a 77-54 lead.
But Doncic kept coming at them, with a 3-pointer and two three-point plays in the final 1:28 to cut it to 85-74.
He made another 3 that trimmed it to 88-82 with 9:27 to play but the Mavericks couldn’t get any closer. The Clippers began putting the ball in Leonard’s hands and he delivered with eight straight Clippers points before consecutive 3-pointers by Reggie Jackson pushed it to 105-89.
The Mavericks were in their first postseason since 2016.
Celtics roll in opener: The Celtics clearly have the formula to create problems for the Raptors.
Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart each scored 21 points, Kemba Walker added 18 points and 10 assists and the third-seeded Celtics never trailed on the way to beating the second-seeded Raptors 112-94 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The Celtics improved to 4-1 against the Raptors this season — no other team has beaten the reigning NBA champions more than twice — and both of their meetings in the NBA’s restart bubble.
The Raptors are 0-2 against the Celtics at Disney, losing by a combined 40 points and not leading for a single moment in those two games. The Raptors are 11-0 at Disney against everybody else.
Jaylen Brown scored 17 points and Daniel Theis finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Celtics, who are 5-0 in this postseason.
Kyle Lowry had 17 points for the Raptors, who got 15 from Serge Ibaka, 13 from Pascal Siakam on a day where he was slowed big-time by early foul trouble and 12 from OG Anunoby. The Raptors were outscored 51-30 from 3-point range.
The Raptors have lost four games by more than 15 points this season — three of them against the Celtics, who won by 22 on Aug. 7, 18 on Sunday and 16 on Christmas Day.
The other was a 20-point loss to the Clippers on Dec. 11.