The road team prevails again, and remains undefeated.
The Dallas Mavericks drop another playoff game at home to the Los Angeles Clippers, 104-97, forcing a Game 7 at the Staples Center.
Kawhi Leonard put on a perfect display of basketball last night. The Klaw scored 45 points on 18/25 shooting, along with 6 rebounds and 2 steals. While he did shoot 5/9 from three, Kawhi’s mid-range game was Jordan-esque. It seemed that every shot within the three-point line went in, the man was an absolute machine.
Reggie Jackson set the tone for the Clippers early, making his first 6 shots and attacking the Dallas’ paint, finishing with 25. Paul George added another 20, along with 13 rebounds and the only 3 blocks for the Clips.
Both teams struggled shooting the three. LA shot 10/34, and Dallas just 11/34 from deep. While there were plenty of open looks on both sides, players couldn’t seem to hit anything. At times, it appeared that either side was about to explode and go on a huge run, but every shot seemed to clank, clank, clank when it mattered most.
Mavrello Ballovic
Dallas was effective on defense early, starting Boban Marjanovic and Kristaps Porzingis together, and playing a 2-3 zone for the majority of the first quarter. The ridiculous length helped keep LA out of the paint, outside of Kawhi and Jackson. Boban provided a huge spark, scoring 8 points at the beginning of the 3rd quarter to start the second half strong for the Mavs. KP didn’t do much as per usual, scoring just 7 points all game, hanging out in the corner with his buddy Mavrello Ballovic.
Tim Hardaway Jr played with a ton of energy all night, igniting the Dallas crowd after several big shots. The ESPN camera crew loved to zoom in on Tim Hardaway Sr after every shot for some reason. Junior finished with 23, including 4 of the Mavs’ 11 threes.
29 points sounds like a great night, but Dallas really needed more from Luka Doncic in this one. Luka missed his first 7 threes, until finally hitting 2 in the fourth quarter. The Mavs certainly ask for a lot out of a 22-year old, but he appears to be up for the challenge every time. When the opposing team’s superstar is destroying you all night long, it is up to you to match that, and it was an untimely off night for Luka.
While the Mavs can bank on going into Game 7 knowing the road team is undefeated, all bets are off in Game 7s. Anything can happen. Dallas needs to have all hands on deck, with every player playing their very best if they want to advance to take on the juggernaut that is the Utah Jazz.
Next Game
Game 7 vs Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday June 6 at 12:30pm Pacific
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MAVERICKS FALL AGAIN MAVERICKS FALL AGAIN
