Doncic crashes once again with his black beast

Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points, the most of anyone in the game, Paul George had 21 and Norman Powell had 19 off the bench to give the Los Angeles Clippers another victory in Dallas, where they have become something of a beast noire. Since Luka Doncic arrived in Texas in 2018, the Angels have won ten games to seven of the Mavs in the regular season direct duel. And, of course, two eliminations from Dallas in the first round of the playoffs by the Clippers.

With the score tied at 79 entering the fourth quarter, the Clippers scored the first six points and pulled away to build their biggest lead of the game (110-95) with two minutes to go. In that stretch, the Mavs defense dedicated itself to running like a headless chicken, bailing out water in the face of its rival’s ball movement, which almost always found free spaces. Good to launch released triples, good to make easy penetrations. Meanwhile, in attack, the locals insisted on missing triples and, above all, free throws, the real cross for them today: They finished with a horrible 15/26 from the personal line.

Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 29 points and 10 rebounds, but he was almost never able to set the pace of the game that suited his team. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 22 points and Spencer Dinwiddie 21. It’s the first time the Clippers have won back-to-back games since Dec. 26-27, while the Mavericks have lost four of their last five and seven of 10. And that came to have a 10-point lead during the first half and were up 54-49 at halftime. But the last period was devastating for them.