Kawhi Leonard carved Dallas up, scoring 36 points while Luka Doncic led Dallas with 44 points, his career play-off high.
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Kawhi Leonard scored 36 points, Paul George added 29 as the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled Luka Doncic’s home playoff debut, beating the Dallas Mavericks 118-108 on Friday to get back in the first-round playoff series.
The Clippers bounced back from two losses at home by withstanding a huge early surge by the Mavericks in front of their biggest and loudest crowd by far this season. Dallas still leads the series 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Sunday.
Luka Doncic entertained the frenzy of 17,705 fans, more than three times the size of any crowd in this season that started with an empty arena. Doncic made his first four shots in which three of them 3-pointers, on his way to a playoff career-high 44 points as Dallas took a 30-11 lead.
Kristaps Porzingis scored six points in the first five minutes but just three the rest of the game. He and Dorian Finney-Smith were 3 of 10 from the field, and Tim Hardaway Jr. was 4 of 14 and scored 12 points after averaging 25 in the first two games.
The Clippers 14-0 run erased most of the deficit before the end of the first quarter. Kawhi made his first eight shots on the night. Three of them came during that 14-0 run that silenced the home crowd. Paul George scored 22 points before halftime on 10 of 13 shooting. George gave the Clippers their first lead with a 3-pointer in the second quarter.
Marcus Morris turned to talk to the Dallas bench a little more with each corner three he hit. He got a technical on the third one after giving LA a 112-110 lead. He fouled out moments later but had already done his damage with nine of his 15 points in the fourth. That wasn’t the only chippy moment.
Doncic and Patrick Beverley also got double technicals after a brief altercation in the first half.
This was the first home playoff game for the Mavericks in five years and also the first at American Airlines Center for everyone on their roster except Dwight Powell. While Doncic already had his third 30-point game of the series before the fourth quarter, the supporting cast wasn’t nearly as effective as it was in Staples Center.
