On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Los Angeles Clippers in game two of the seven game series in the first round. The Mavericks look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead, if they could manage a win. The Mavericks hope they could go back home with having a lead in the series instead of being tied.

On Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Los Angeles Clippers in the first game of this seven game series. The Mavericks started this game hot as their offense got rolling early but the Clippers came storming back but not enough for a lead with the Mavericks ending the first half with a 60-55 halftime lead. The Clippers were able to keep the game close throughout the game but it was the Mavericks in control for the majority of the game as they were able to finish off the Clippers for a 113-103 win. Luka Doncic finished the game with a triple-double of 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to take a 1-0 series lead. The Mavericks were able to get production from Tim Hardaway Jr as he scored 21 points in the win. With the win, the Mavericks now have a lead in this series which is important as the winner of game one of a series, goes on to win the series 76.2% of the time, so the odds are well in the Mavericks favor. This is the first “Game One” win for the Mavericks since Game One of the 2011 Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Game two is vastly important for the Mavericks to win as they don’t want to head back to the American Airlines Center with the series tied, they much rather go back home with a commanding 2-0 series lead. The Mavericks cannot allow the Clippers to comeback in the series and gain momentum as it’s still anybody’s series for the taking. The Mavericks are three wins away from advancing to the next round of the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Clippers are coming into this game by coming off a 113-103 loss against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday to fall behind 0-1 in the series. This team is led by Kawhi Leonard as they look to find a way to even the series at 1-1 with a win in this matchup. If their current trend continues, they will have a tough time stopping the Mavericks in the series, as they cannot allow them to upset them and send them home packing with having hopes of reaching the western conference finals. The Clippers now know the Mavericks plans in the series and will look to make a few changes to try to come out swinging in game two. This almost feels like this is a must win for the Clippers as they cannot fall behind and allow Luka Doncic to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. Luka Doncic is coming for revenge as he tries to return the favor and eliminate the Clippers in the first round, just like how the Clippers did to the Mavericks a season ago. We will see what adjustments each team made and see who will come out victorious in this huge game two for both teams.

The Mavericks started this game by having JJ Redick (right Achilles injury) be ruled out for this game but Maxi Kleber (right heel soreness) will be available to play. As a result, the Mavericks went with Doncic, Hardaway Jr, Kleber, Finney-Smith and Porzingis as their starting five in this game. The first points in the game would belong to Tim Hardaway Jr as he nailed a floating jump shot for the Mavericks to get this game underway. The Clippers wouldn’t get their first points until the 10:25 mark as Paul George nailed a driving layup to come within 5-2 of the Mavericks. The Mavericks would extend their lead to six points after Luka Doncic knocked down a step-back three pointer to extend their lead to 12-6 with 9:20 left in the quarter. The Clippers would trim their deficit to one point after Kawhi Leonard nailed two free-throws to come within 12-11 with 8:17 left in the quarter. WOW! THE MAVERICKS WOULD EXTEND THEIR LEAD BACK TO SIX POINTS AFTER LUKA DONCIC KNOCKED DOWN A DRIVING ONE-HANDED SLAM DUNK TO EXTEND THEIR LEAD TO 17-11 WITH 7:12 LEFT IN THE QUARTER. The Clippers would call a timeout with 6:12 left in the quarter after the Mavericks took a 20-13 lead. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the game by making eight of their first twelve attempts while the Clippers made five of their first eleven attempts taken thus far. It would become known that Dirk Nowitzki was in attendance to watch the Mavericks play or just in case if we needed some minutes from him (just kidding). The Mavericks were able to open the game just like how they did in Game One of the series, by getting off to a spectacular start. The Mavericks were playing with full of energy as that’s exactly how you want the Mavericks to come out to begin the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Clippers turned to Kawhi Leonard but couldn’t convert as he missed a jump shot that kept the score at 20-13 with 6:02 left in the quarter. ANOTHER THUNDEROUS SLAM DUNK BY THE MAVERICKS AS KRISTAPS PORZINGIS THREW ONE DOWN TO EXTEND THEIR LEAD TO EIGHT POINTS AT 26-18 WITH 4:30 LEFT IN THE QUARTER. I think that one was for the $50,000 fine that he received prior to this game for violating “Health and Safety Protocols”. The Mavericks offense was absolutely clicking on all cylinders as they were able to create good shots to get them to go down for points. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 35-33 lead into the second quarter. The game leading scorer after one quarter of play would belong to Kawhi Leonard as he scored 18 points for the Clippers. The Mavericks were led by Maxi Kleber as he scored 12 points. The quarter was dominated by the Mavericks as they were able to get off to a good start by getting shots to go down to open the game. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks were shooting 62.5% on 15-of-24 shooting from the field. This is exactly how the Mavericks need to play, in order to eliminate the Clippers and advance to the next round but they need to do it CONSISTENTLY as it’s still a long seven game series for anybody’s taking.

The second quarter would begin by having Reggie Jackson nail a jump shot for the Clippers to get this quarter underway.. The Mavericks wouldn’t get their first points in the quarter until the 11:30 mark as Jalen Brunson nailed a jump shot to extend their lead to 37-35. The Clippers would take their first lead in the game after Reggie Jackson knocked down a three pointer to take a 38-37 lead with 11:10 left in the quarter. The game would find its way to be tied after Jalen Brunson knocked down a jump shot to tie the game at 43-43 with 9:51 left in the quarter. The Clippers would call a timeout with 8:44 left in the quarter with the game tied at 45-45. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making five of their first six attempts while the Clippers made all of their first five attempts taken thus far. The Clippers were able to have a much better start to a quarter as their shots started to fall in the opening minutes of this quarter. The Mavericks allowed the Clippers to catch up to them which is something they cannot allow to happen, especially if you know the Clippers desperately needed to win this game to get the series tied. Coming out of the timeout, the Clippers turned to Ivica Zubac but couldn’t convert as he lost the ball that resulted in a turnover that kept the score at tied at 45-45 with 8:25 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to get control of the game after Kristaps Porzingis knocked down a long-distance three pointer to separate themselves from the Clippers by grabbing a lead of five points at 52-47 with 7:09 left in the quarter. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 5:57 left in the quarter after the Clippers shrunk their lead to 52-51. Prior to this timeout, the Clippers were able to generate a quick 6-5 run to get themselves back in the game. The Mavericks offense was rolling but couldn’t get their defense to match it as it allowed the Clippers to get their offense going. Nobody, so far, could generate enough separation from each other as the game remained close thus far. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Kristaps Porzingis as he was able to draw a foul to go to the free-throw line, which is the first free-throw attempts by the Mavericks, however, Porzingis was able to knock down a free-throw to extend their lead to 53-51 with 5:40 left in the quarter. Yikes! A spectacular play by Paul George as it looked like he was able to put the skates on Kristaps Porzingis which he knocked down the layup while drawing the foul, where he would knock down the “AND-ONE” free-throw to reclaim control of the lead at 54-53 with 5:22 left in the quarter. The Mavericks would retake the lead soon after by having Luka Doncic knock down a driving layup while drawing the foul, where he would knock down the “AND-ONE” free-throw to take control of the lead at 60-56 with 4:23 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Clippers were able to grab control of the lead and take a 73-71 lead into halftime. The game leading scorer after two quarters of play would belong to Kawhi Leonard as he scored 30 points for the Clippers. The Mavericks were led by Luka Doncic as he scored 23 points. This was a much interesting quarter as the Clippers woke up and decided to play basketball in the quarter which resulted in the game being close. At the end of the first half, the Mavericks were shooting 67.4% on 29-of-43 shooting from the field. The Mavericks would need to clean up their defense as that’s the primary reason why the Clippers were in the game, if they could just fix it then they would make it easier for themselves with their offense clicking.

Coming out of the half, the Mavericks were able to get on the board first in the third quarter by having Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down a three pointer to get this quarter underway. Ivica Zubac was able to score the first points in the quarter for the Clippers as he nailed a alley-oop dunk with 11:10 left in the quarter to retake the lead at 75-74. The Mavericks would take the lead right back after Kristaps Porzingis knocked down a three pointer that took forever to go down as it just sat there at the back of the rim before finally going down in the hoop for a 77-76 lead with 9:56 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to four points after Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down two free-throws to extend their lead to 82-78 with 7:15 left in the quarter. The Clippers would call a timeout with 6:52 left in the quarter after the Mavericks extended their lead back to seven points at 85-78. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making four of their first nine attempts while the Clippers made just two of their first eight attempts taken thus far. The quarter began with both teams exchanging shots until the Mavericks were able to create enough separation to grab a lead in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to generate a 14-5 run to open the quarter to grab control of the lead thus far. So far, the Mavericks had control for the majority of the Clippers as the Clippers couldn’t generate enough momentum to separate themselves from the Mavericks. This game looked fairly similar to how Game One went, with the Mavericks having majority control with the Clippers having their mini runs to keep it a close game. Coming out of the timeout, the Clippers turned to Ivica Zubac but couldn’t convert as he committed a three-second violation which resulted in a turnover that kept the score at 85-78 with 6:36 left in the quarter. Maxi Kleber would go to the free-throw line as the Mavericks were in the bonus for the remaining 5:49 left in the quarter, which he would make a free-throw to extend their lead to 86-80 with 5:45 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to nine points after Luka Doncic knocked down a jump shot to extend their lead to 92-83 with 4:11 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 101-92 lead into the fourth quarter. The game leading scorer after three quarters of play would belong to Luka Doncic as he scored 35 points for the Mavericks. The Clippers were led by Kawhi Leonard as he scored 34 points. This quarter belong to the Mavericks as they were able to survive the Clippers threat early in the quarter. Through three quarters of play, the Mavericks were shooting 62.9% on 39-of-62 shooting from the field. The game has been ALL Mavericks as they were the ones in control of the game. The Clippers were able to keep the game close but nowhere worthy of a lead. If the Mavericks could fix their efforts on Defense for the final 12:00 minutes of the game, then they would find themselves victorious. Defense! Defense! Defense! Has been the key factor in the game as it was the Mavericks defense ONLY allowing the Clippers back in the game, otherwise, they would’ve wrapped it up with the way their offense was rolling throughout the game.

The fourth quarter would begin by having Kristaps Porzingis nail a jump shot for the Mavericks to get this quarter underway. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to fourteen points after Jalen Brunson knocked down a driving layup while drawing a foul, which he would knock down the “AND-ONE” free-throw to extend their lead to 106-92 with 10:09 left in the game. The Clippers weren’t able to get their first points in the quarter until the 9:59 mark by having Paul George nail a jump shot to come within 106-94 of the Mavericks. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 8:10 left in the game after the Clippers shrunk their lead to 109-99. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making three of their first eight attempts while the Clippers made three of their first nine attempts taken thus far. It has been ALL Mavericks in this game as ALL the momentum was on their side while the Clippers have been the ones trying to catch up with the Mavericks but the Mavericks offense couldn’t be stopped at all. There’s still enormous amount of time left for the Clippers to eventually catch up with the Mavericks but they would need a serious run to do as there was no way they could stop the Mavericks offense. All the Mavericks needed to do, for the reminder of the game, is generate enough of stops on defense because the offense was doing its job if they want to leave the arena with a huge win. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Josh Richardson as he was able to convert on a jump shot to extend their lead to 111-99 with 7:54 left in the game. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead back to thirteen points after Kristaps Porzingis knocked down a three pointer that caught the back of the rim and up and in for a 114-101 lead with 7:20 left in the game. The Clippers body language in this quarter looked awful as they were ready to go home because there was no energy whatsoever from them in the quarter. The Clippers finally did something on offense as Paul George knocked down a driving slam dunk to trim their deficit to eight points at 114-106 with 5:31 left in the game. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 4:49 left in the game after their lead shrunk to five points at 114-109. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks defense fell asleep in hopes that their offense did enough for a win, as that allowed the Clippers to generate a 10-3 run to once again get themselves back in the game. The Defense for the Mavericks was caught and that allowed the opportunity to open up for the Clippers to generate some momentum to get this game interesting. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Luka Doncic but couldn’t convert as he missed a floating jump shot that kept the score at 114-109 with 4:28 left in the game. Time was running out for the Clippers for one last comeback attempt as they use a coach’s challenge tailing by 116-109 to challenge a foul call on Patrick Beverley with 2:57 left in the game that would give Tim Hardaway Jr two free-throws. After the review, the Officials overturned the call and was ruled a successful challenge by the Clippers thus resulting in a jump-ball at mid court. After all of that, it resulted in Luka Doncic knocking down a driving layup to extend their lead to 118-109 with 2:37 left in the game. The Clippers would trim their deficit to four points after Terance Mann knocked down a driving layup to come within 120-116 of the Mavericks with 1:24 left in the game. OH MY GOODNESS! TIM HARDAWAY JR KNOCKED DOWN A HUGE THREE POINTER TO EXTEND THEIR LEAD TO 123-116 AS THE CLIPPERS CALLED TIMEOUT WITH 1:03 LEFT IN THE GAME. The Mavericks desperately needed that to stay in front of the Clippers as they were getting closer and closer to the Mavericks. Coming out of the timeout, the Clippers turned to Paul George as he was able to convert on a driving slam dunk to come within 123-118 of the Mavericks with 58.4 seconds left in the game. The game sealing scenario would come with Josh Richardson knocking down two free-throws as a result of the Clippers playing “the foul game” that resulted in the Mavericks extending their lead to 127-121 with 9.7 seconds left in the game.

This team looked like they ready to continue from their efforts in Game One as the Mavericks offense got off to another good start. However, the Clippers were able to create just enough spark at the end of the first half to grab a 73-71 halftime lead. The Mavericks offense continued to cook but it was their lack of defense that kept the Clippers in the game. This is a very important game for the Mavericks to win as they want to head back home to the American Airlines Center with the series lead. The Clippers would want to answer the Mavericks and get this series tied before they flip courts.

In the end, it was the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Los Angeles Clippers 127-121. Luka Doncic finished the game with 39 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the win. The Clippers were led by Kawhi Leonard as he finished with 41 points and 6 rebounds. The Mavericks got production from Tim Hardaway Jr as he finished with 28 points. With the win, the Mavericks take a commanding 2-0 series lead as they won back-to-back road games. After everybody picked the Clippers to win the series before the series began, the Mavericks heard the talk and responded by taking a 2-0 series lead. PUT SOME RESPECT ON THIS MAVERICKS TEAM! THEY HEARD THE NOISE BUT AS THE FAMOUS SAYING GOES “IF YOU TALK THE TALK, YOU BETTER WALK THE WALK”. The Mavericks now go back home needing to win just two more games to advance to the next round in the playoffs.

The Mavericks will come back home to play the Los Angeles Clippers at the American Airlines Center on Friday with the series lead at 2-0. This will be the first playoff game at the American Airlines Center since April 23rd, 2016. The Mavericks have decided to expand the capacity at the American Airlines Center for the playoffs to give them give home court advantage. Make sure to grab your tickets to go watch the Mavericks as we need you to be there and be loud.