RECORD NOT ENOUGH
Clippers survive milestone performance of Doncic to grab series lead; Tatum, Brown power Celtics past Sixers
Nobody had ever scored as much as Luka Doncic in an NBA playoff debut.
His evaluation of his historic performance? “Terrible,” he said. Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers had enough answers to withstand Doncic’s record-setting debut—especially after his running mate was thrown out of the game. Leonard had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and the Clippers got a big boost from the ejection of Kristaps Porzingis to beat the Dallas Mavericks, 118-110, on Monday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series. Doncic finished with 42 points, most ever by a player in his first postseason game, and added nine assists and seven rebounds. He had the No. 7 seed hanging right with the Clippers for much of the night.
“I mean, he’s great,” Leonard said.
That wasn’t Doncic’s assessment of himself, however. Doncic is out for wins, not stats, and the Maverloosened icks weren’t good enough to get one in the opener of their series. They climbed back from a dismal start that was caused in part by Doncic’s carelessness.
So while his 42 points were the number that drew the most attention, Doncic was focused on another number in the box score.
“I should never have 11 turnovers,” he said. “That’s 11 more possessions I can have. The thing about this game is I’ve got to be way better than that for sure.”
Los Angeles pulled into the lead when Porzingis was ejected for picking up his second technical foul in the third quarter and Doncic couldn’t bring the Mavs all the way back.
“KP had my back. He did it for me. He did it for his teammate. He had my back,” Doncic said. “Not just me, but the whole team appreciates that. I don’t think it was fair to take him out of the game, especially in the playoffs.”
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on Wednesday.
Paul George added 27 points for the Clippers.
Jayson Tatum had career playoff highs of 32 points and 13 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 109-101, on Monday in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
“Offensively, it doesn’t feel like he’s got 32 at the end of the night,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “He just plays the game within himself.”
Jaylen Brown scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter.
“Jaylen Brown in the last period was exceptional,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “It’s true that Jayson Tatum to start was excellent. You have to give them credit for how good they are at creating their own shot.”
The Clippers knocked around Doncic, the 21-year-old superstar who led the NBA in triple-doubles, whenever they could. But he never stopped coming back at them, but late three-pointers by Patrick Beverley and Marcus Morris finally turned Dallas back.
The turning point came much earlier.
Dallas led 71-66 with 9:10 left in third when Doncic was called for palming the ball. Morris was eager to grab the ball and ended up grabbing Doncic, who sought to push his way free. Porzingis came over and he and attempted to brush away Morris, who responded with a push. Referees gave both players technical fouls.
Porzingis had picked up his first technical foul in the first half for his reaction to a foul called when he believed he’d blocked a shot.