DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had 28 points and 13 assists, Kyrie Irving scored 28 of his 30 points in a second-half surge and the Dallas Mavericks advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 114-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
Doncic pushed through another rough shooting night with his ailing right knee to do what the Slovenian superstar couldn't three years earlier — close out the Clippers in Dallas in Game 6 of a first-round series.
The fifth-seeded Mavericks beat the Clippers for the the first time in three first-round tries over the past five seasons and will open the Western Conference semifinals at the top seed, Oklahoma City, on Tuesday night.
Paul George had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who won the first two times they played without Kawhi Leonard in the series but didn't have enough scoring punch in the last two he was sidelined by right knee inflammation.