Luka Doncic strikes again! Buzzer beater ties series at 2-2, Paul George struggles AGAIN
Orlando, Florida- Luke Doncic, you are something else, my friend. Doncic's step back at the buzzer capped a triple-double and the short-handed Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers 135-133 in overtime Sunday to even the playoff series at two games apiece.
Mavericks post their biggest playoff comeback win, overcoming a 21-point, second-quarter deficit. Their previous best was 19 against the Spurs in San Antonio during Game 5 of the 2003 Western Conference Finals.
Doncic finished with 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists for his second straight triple-double. Not bad for a 21-year old, right?
"We know this kid has got a flair for the dramatic," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's a guy that lives for these moments."
Amazingly, Doncic was a game-time decision due to the left ankle he hurt in Game 3's loss. But he wasn't going to let this injury take him out of this game.
Mavericks fans no doubt were still relishing Sunday’s pregame news that Doncic was going to play when, minutes before tipoff, co-star Kristaps Porzingis was scratched from the lineup with right knee soreness which is clearly a huge loss.
After Porzingis was downgraded to out before the game, Trey Burke mentioned how everyone was a "little deflated" which is understandably expected, but as they say in New England, "Next Man Up."
Not surprisingly, the Clippers built an early 34-24 lead after one quarter. Mavericks met another strenuous battle as the deficit bloated to 54-33 in the middle of the second quarter. The Clippers were surging ahead, and it looked like they weren't going to look back. The Mavericks’ head dropped, looking defeated. No Kristaps Porzingis, Luka on one ankle, and Dallas’ facing a 2-1 series deficit, things are looking bleak for the Mavs.
But things started to change in the second quarter when Doncic checked back in. Dallas closed the gap to eight points by halftime, then dominated the Clippers 35-19 in the third period and took as much as a 106-94 lead with 9:07 left in the game. Dallas proceeded to outscore the Clippers by 28 points. Burke tallied 25 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. 21 points and Seth Curry totaled in 15 on his 30th birthday.
Doc Rivers was not thrilled to see his team collapse, "Honestly,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said, “I thought we were very emotionally weak.” "... If I knew [why], I would be Sigmund Freud. But at the end of the day, we're up 20, and we're getting technical fouls. Things like that give the team juice. Throughout -- and I've been saying this for three games now -- we're so much better than what we're playing. But honestly, give Dallas credit. ... They're minus [Kristaps] Porzingis. But they just kept playing. They played together. They moved the ball.
"And you can see the difference in spirit. Like, they make a run, and everybody's excited. You know, they make a run on us, and we cave in. So that's on all of us. Me, too. I've got to get our guys right."
Doc had some questionable coaching tactics as well, most notably leaving Reggie Jackson in for the final possession as Doncic easily shot over him due to his height and Jackson also being a below-average defender. It's a bit confusing why Doc would think it's a smart decision to switch on ball screens when he has Jackson out there, but then again, I what do I know?
Lou Williams scored 36 points off the bench for the second-seeded Clippers, and Kawhi Leonard had 32.
Once again, Paul George struggled mightily with nine points as his shooting struggles continued. He was 3 of 14 from the field and is shooting 29% in the series. “If I make shots, this series could be a little different. And that’s obvious, of course. That’s what it just comes down to. But give them credit, they’re playing well, they’re defending, they’re shooting the ball, Luka is playing phenomenal — you gotta give credit where credit is due. But to be honest, in hindsight, if I shoot the ball better, this series would be a lot different.”
Paul George, this is not a hindsight game, this is the NBA playoffs. Sadly, this is Paul George's modus operandi in the playoffs, and Clippers fans are wondering which version of Paul George will they get.
Williams tied it at 121 by hitting a couple of free-throws before missing the third. After Dallas failed to score on the next possession, the Clippers called a timeout to set up a play but Kawhi Leonard missed a 3-pointer and it was sent to overtime.
After an extremely entertaining, back-and-forth battle in overtime, crunch time hit. Doncic scores on a beautiful move to take a 132-130 lead with 19.0 seconds left and Marcus Morris Sr immediately answers with a three of his own to give the Clippers a 133-132 lead with 9.6 seconds left.
I think we know how this game ends.
The pivotal Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday.