NBA Roundup: Doncic, Irving lead Mavs; Pacers down Bucks
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 32 points and the Dallas Mavericks overcame the return of Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard to beat Los Angeles 96-93 on Tuesday night and tie their Western Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
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.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points for the Mavs, who led most of the game two days after they trailed by 29 points and eventually lost 109-97. P.J. Washington Jr. added 18 points.
Game 3 is Friday in Dallas. 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.
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.
The Clippers kept it up in the fourth, taking a 73-67 lead.
That’s when the Mavs scored 14 straight points to take an 81-73 lead. Washington hit a 3-pointer in front of the Clippers’ bench, and Doncic and Irving followed with ones of their own in the spurt.
Zubac’s dunk cut the Clippers’ deficit to 84-81 before Maxi Kleber and Doncic sank consecutive 3s.
The Clippers trailed 9390 on Leonard’s basket with 20 seconds left. Irving was called for a foul, which the Mavs challenged and got it overturned. Irving made 3 of 4 free throws before George sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Mavs starting center Daniel Gafford hurt his lower back three minutes into the game, but returned in the second quarter although he was scoreless. Tim Hardaway Jr. sprained his right ankle and didn’t return.
PASCAL SIAKAM LEADS RESURGENT
PACERS MILWAUKEE (AP) — As a former champion on a team without much postseason experience, Pascal Siakam understands what it’s going to take for the Indiana Pacers to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
Siakam’s certainly doing his part.
The former Toronto Raptors forward scored 37 points and the Pacers overcame another fantastic first-half performance from Damian Lillard to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 125-108 on Tuesday night and tie their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
Game 3 is Friday in Indianapolis.
“We’ve got to be the hungry team,” Siakam said. “We’ve got to be the team that’s coming in and wanting to show something. That’s the attitude that we’ve got to have against those guys, because they’ve done it before.”
The Pacers had plenty of appetite Tuesday as they snapped a 10-game playoff losing streak that began with a Game 7 loss to Cleveland in a 2018 firstround series.
Indiana acquired Siakam in January in part because of his experience as a member of the 2019 Toronto Raptors championship team. He followed up his 36-point performance in Game 1 by shooting 16 of 23 from the floor and finishing with 11 rebounds and six assists on Tuesday.
According to Stats Perform, Siakam is the first NBA player to open a postseason with consecutive 35-point, 10-rebound performances since Wilt Chamberlain in 1967.
“His experience in the playoffs is so valuable,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s not a guy that’s going to get rattled by anything. Never has once since January, since we got him. He’s a guy that people confide in and look up to.”
The Pacers needed Siakam to step up because Lillard was once again coming up huge for the Bucks, at least in the first two periods.
Two nights after scoring all 35 of his points in the first half of the Bucks’ 10994 Game 1 victory, Lillard had 26 by halftime Tuesday and finished with 34. It wasn’t enough.
“I think both games we had a lot of success in the first two quarters mainly, and then in the second half we kind of get away from the things we had a lot of success doing,” Lillard said.
Lillard didn’t get enough help with the Bucks once again missing two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a strained left calf. Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since he was hurt in an April 9 victory over the Boston Celtics.
Even after Lillard’s big early onslaught, the Bucks still trailed 60-55 at halftime. Indiana stayed ahead throughout the second half.
“We were more consistent, played with more force, played with more attitude,” Carlisle said. “There were some tough stretches in the game. I liked the way we kept our poise and our aggression. We kept attacking.”
The Pacers led the NBA with 123.3 points per game during the regular season but posted their lowest point total and field-goal percentage (.396) while shooting 8 of 38 on 3-pointers in Game 1. This time, Indiana looked more like the team that won four of five regular-season matchups with the Bucks while scoring at least 122 points in each.