A Western Conference showdown was the highlight of Wednesday night’s 2020 NBA Game 2 playoffs between the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks kept the trend from the day.
The Mavericks shook off the failure from their Game 1, as they bounced back to even the series at 1-1 with a 127-114 win.
Luka Doncic was a dominant figure yet again at the game, helping the Mavericks to a 17-point lead in the first half. And though he finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, he dealt with foul trouble in the second half and had a minimal impact after the break.
The Mavericks’ bench also stepped up this time around with Seth Curry, Trey Burke, Boban Marjanovic, and Delon Wright all combining for 47 huge points.
Kawhi Leonard, the star man for the Los Angeles team led the way as per usual, finishing with 35 points and 10 rebounds. Unfortunately for LA Clippers, Lou Williams was the only teammate who complimented the efforts of Kawhi, earning 23 points and seven assists.
They shot just 29.4 percent from 3-point land and struggled on the defensive end as they fell to a disappointing loss.
Related
- VanVleet stars again as Toronto rally to take Game 2 against Brooklyn in the NBA Playoffs
- NBA Playoffs: Trail Blazers shock Lakers in Game 1 as Damian Lillard scores 34 points
Watch the match highlights below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0NZOkRW4_M
It seems like Luka Doncic breaking some sort of record every game is the new norm. In Game 1, he went for 42 points, which was the most ever in a playoff debut, and on Wednesday night, after finishing with 28 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, he became just the second player ever to score 70 in his first two playoff games.
George Mikan, who put up 75 points in his first two playoff games way back in 1949 was the only other player with more than what Doncic just had.
But while Doncic was key in the Mavericks building a big lead in the first half, he needed a lot of help to close this out. He played just nine minutes in the second half because he had issues with a foul, and also sat for almost all of the fourth quarter.
The old saying that offense wins games, but defense wins championships is slowly becoming a myth in this series. Going strictly by offensive rating, the Mavericks put together the best offense in NBA history this season, scoring 115.9 points per 100 possessions with the Clippers who checked in at 113.3 coming in as second. It means neither team has trouble getting buckets.
On the other side of the ball, however, was where things diverged. The Clippers were one of just two teams to finish in the top-five in both offensive and defensive rating, while the Mavericks had the second-worst defense of any team to make the playoffs. Only the Trail Blazers were worse.
That dominant Clippers defense, however, was nowhere to be seen in Game 2 allowing the Mavericks to get to the paint too easily. The Clippers are going to have to tighten up defensively in Game 3, especially on the perimeter.
Philadelphia 76ers 101-128 Boston Celtics
Forward Gordon Hayward of the Boston Celtics had to retire in Game 1 of their series against the 76ers and couldn’t make it to Game 2, but it didn’t seem to matter on Wednesday night.
Bolton Celtics took a commanding 128-101 win over the Sixers and took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. All-Star forward Jayson Tatum again led the way for the Celtics notching 33 points, five rebounds, and five assists in 31 minutes of action.
