LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 20 of his 35 points in the second half and added 10 assists and seven rebounds, propelling the Dallas Mavericks to a 123-93 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 on Wednesday night and a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Maxi Kleber hit five 3-pointers and Kyrie Irving added 14 points for the Mavericks, who clamped down on the Clippers defensively and won decisively in Los Angeles for the second time in the series. Dallas moved to the brink of its first playoff series victory since 2022 and only its third since winning the NBA title in 2011.
Doncic is playing on a sprained right knee that limited him at times in the series, but the Slovenian superstar clearly got more comfortable and more dangerous as Game 5 went on. He had 14 points in the third quarter while the Mavs stretched their lead to 25 and eventually took an 89-69 advantage into the fourth, where the Clippers never threatened to do an imitation of Dallas' rally back from a 31-point deficit in Game 4.
Game 6 is Friday night in Dallas. If necessary, Game 7 will be back in Los Angeles on Sunday.