The Mavs seized homecourt advantage and shifted the pressure onto Los Angeles as the series moves to Dallas for Game 3 on Friday night.
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, left, shoots as Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden, second from left, and center Ivica Zubac second from right, defend while center Daniel Gafford stands behind during the first half in Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Leonard entered the game having averaged 30 points and 8.7 rebounds in his last 50 playoff games, but on Tuesday he finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was blunt during his pregame media availability: “I think it starts with our two stars,” he said of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. “They have to get off to a better start. Those two have to set the tone.”Instead, Doncic and Irving started a combined 0-for-5.
Doncic and Irving came up big in the fourth quarter, though, scoring eight straight points to take the game from a 73-70 Clippers lead to an 81-73 Dallas lead. Doncic’s 3-pointer with 1:26 left gave the Mavericks a commanding 90-81 cushion.In Game 1, Ivica Zubac personally outscored and outrebounded Dallas’ center tandem of Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, scoring 10 of Los Angeles’ first 29 points.
More troubling for Dallas is that starting center Daniel Gafford, though he helped contain Zubac early, for the second straight game failed to make an impact offensively or on the boards. Gafford left in the first quarter with a lower back injury., he went without a point or rebound in eight first-half minutes – a repeat of Game 1, when he finished with 3 points and zero rebounds in 14 minutes.Kidd flatly said before the game: “We have to play with pace if we’re going to win.
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