Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic celebrates after scoring during the second half in Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Luka Doncic scored 32 points as the Dallas Mavericks battled to a series-tying 96-93 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday in a tense NBA Western Conference playoff duel.
Slovenian star Doncic combined with Kyrie Irving for 55 points to ensure that Dallas will head back to Texas with honors even at 1-1 in the best-of-seven NBA playoffs series.
Doncic and Irving formed a sublime double act in a hard-fought fourth quarter, orchestrating a crucial 14-0 run that effectively took the game away from the Clippers, who had downed Dallas in a 109-97 win in game one on Sunday.
READ: NBA: Clippers beat Mavericks in Game 1 without Kawhi Leonard
Luka Doncic TOOK OVER in the 4th quarter of Game 2 to help the @dallasmavs tie the series 1-1!
32 PTS | 9 AST | 6 REB | 5 3PM
Game 3: Friday, 8pm/et on ESPN pic.twitter.com/RPDS1HX7Je
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2024
After trailing for most of the game, the Clippers threatened to snaffle another precious home victory after opening up a six-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
But the Doncic-Irving axis helped the Mavericks regain control to set up a deserved win.
Doncic finished with 32 points, nine assists and six rebounds while Irving contributed 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
“We had to make some noise in the second game, you know, first game wasn’t our best game,” Doncic said.
“So we had to come out here and prove that we can play with them,” Doncic added, before saluting the contribution of Irving.
“It’s amazing having him on our team,” Doncic said. “It just helps me a lot. A great guy and just happy that he’s here.”
James Harden and Paul George led the Clippers scoring with 22 points each.