DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and the suddenly defensive-minded Dallas Mavericks took a chippy 101-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
The Mavs rode the same defense that gave them home-court advantage with a Game 2 victory in LA, and won in Dallas three years after losing all three first-round games on their floor in a seven-game s loss to the Clippers. Game 4 is Sunday in Dallas.
Rookie Dereck Lively II scored all 13 of his points in the first half and Daniel Gafford, his tag-team partner as a dunker and rim protector, had an emphatic block of a dunk attempt by Paul George early in the fourth quarter while Dallas was taking control for good in a game with five technical fouls, a flagrant foul and two ejections.
James Harden scored 21 points for the Clippers, but just seven after halftime, while fellow stars George and Kawhi Leonard had little impact. Normal Powell also had 21.