The Los Angeles Clippers are advancing to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2015. After a more difficult matchup than they expected, they finally put down the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, and won the game to take the 111-97 series, 4-2. Now they will be waiting for the winner of the Denver Nuggets vs Utah Jazz series.
Marcus Morris took the lead early for the Clippers, putting up nine starting points, but was knocked out in the first quarter for a flagrant 2 foul on Luca Dnick. They didn’t really miss him the rest of the way, however, as the poet Leonard turned into another impressive playoff performance – 33 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists on 23 of 14 of 23 grounds. Paul George went for a near-triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Christopes Porcisis was out for the Mavericks again due to a knee injury, so once again everything fell on Luka Donik’s shoulders. He certainly did his part by going for his points, nine rebounds and nine assists, but just didn’t get enough help. Dallas scored just 11 of 11 from downtown, and Tim Hardway Jr. and Dorian Finney-Smith were the only other double-digit scorers.
Here are some key solutions from Game 6:
1. The dominant poet
Cavi Leonard is arguably the league’s best player in playoff time, and that’s why he showed up on Sunday with another excellent performance. Points end with 33 points, 1 reb rebound and seven assists, while 60 off the field. While shooting percent percent, it turns out to be his fifth straight 0-point game in the series.
He talked about being able to reach his destinations after the game, and that is exactly what happened. Whether he was entering the paint with a desire to create for himself or his fellow players, or clearing one side of the floor to get the rhythm for the jumper, he was in complete control.
His game in the fourth quarter was particularly important, as he moved on when Mavericks was back in the game. After cutting the Dallas deficit to single digits early in the fourth, Leonard pulled, where he led the dive, jumper, jumper, jumper in a matter of minutes, pulling the lead back to double digits and closing the door on any return attempt. .
The Clippers had exactly the same hope when they added Leonard to the se fuses, and that’s exactly why they’re one of the favorites to win it all. When it really comes down to it, you want Leonard on your side.
2. Luca’s impressive postseason comes to an end
Launching his Rookie of the Year campaign, Luka Donic ranked himself one of the league’s best players this season, and his first trip to the playoffs did not disappoint. Even though the Mavericks eventually lost the series, everyone will remember this as they come out of Donsik’s official party.
He went for 31 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists during the series, and his Buzzer-3-pointer to win Game 4 is one of the best playoff moments of the year. The fact that he was doing all this on a sprained ankle, and for most of the series without Christaps porzingis, just made him more special.
Leonard, who is usually reserved, also sang his praises after the game, calling him a “great player” and saying that Donetsk was “the hell of a job there.” We don’t need to confirm Leonard to know that Donetsk is special, but it does remind us of how much respect he already has from other stars in the league.
It’s too bad that this will be Donetsk’s last appearance for the playoffs, as he has become the most entertaining player in the league, but it will be interesting to see what he comes back next season.
3. More fireworks
This was easily the first first round series. Immediately in Game 1, Christophs Porzings was knocked out during a confrontation where he was trying to stay for Donci, and the intensity never died.
There was an incident between Montreal Herald and Donsick – which became a much bigger story than it should have been – Marcus Morris stepped on Donsick’s injured ankle, intentionally or accidentally, depending on your point of view, and kicked Rick Carisle out of Game 5.
It didn’t take long for the fireworks to resume on Sunday. Towards the end of the first quarter, Donsick went to the basket against Morris, and P the forward came down hard with an unnecessary swinging hand in Nick’s head. The young man immediately popped up and tried to approach Morris, but was caught by Boban Marjanovich, who wrapped him up, and probably saved him from being ejected himself.
Thankfully, both in that moment and in the rest of the game, Cooler Head became dominant. While the series has been up for now, this could evolve into a bit of competition over the next few years, with both teams believed to be powerful players at the Western Convention.
