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Luka Doncic had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 127-114 Game 2 victory over the LA Clippers on Wednesday that evened their Western Conference first round playoff series at one game apiece.
Dallas Mavericks 127-114 LA Clippers
Luka Doncic had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 127-114 victory over the LA Clippers on Wednesday that evened their Western Conference first round playoff series at one game apiece.
Kristaps Porzingis added 23 points and seven rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr scored 17 points and Trey Burke finished with 16 points as the Mavericks evened the best-of-seven series at a game apiece. Seth Curry chipped in 15 points and Boban Marjanovic, a former Clipper, hit 6-of-8 shots on his way to 13 points and added nine rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard had 35 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers. Lou Williams contributed 23 points, while Paul George, who was limited by foul trouble, had 14 points and 10 boards. Marcus Morris Sr also had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Clippers trailed by 18 points early in the fourth quarter. They sliced the lead to 10 late in the game but got no closer.
Doncic picked up his fifth foul with 11:37 left and sat for more than seven minutes, but the Mavericks didn’t miss a beat. They boosted their lead to 108-90 after a bucket by Burke at 8:53 before hanging on for the win.
Clippers guard Patrick Beverley (strained calf) missed the contest.
Philadelphia 76ers 101-128 Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics recorded a second straight win over the Philadelphia 76ers, getting 33 points from Jayson Tatum in a 128-101 triumph.
Equalling the most three-pointers in their heralded postseason history, the Eastern Conference’s third seed outscored the 76ers 57-15 from beyond the arc to successfully follow up on Game 1’s 109-101 win.
The 76ers dominated the early action, bolting to a 21-9 lead behind nine points from Joel Embiid and three-pointers by Josh Richardson and Shake Milton. Philadelphia led 25-11 with 4:52 remaining in the first period before the Celtics took charge.
Boston closed within 33-27 by quarter’s end, went ahead for good at 37-36 on a Brad Wanamaker shot in the third minute of the second period, then extended the advantage to 13 before half-time and 23 to end the third quarter.
Tatum’s 33 points came in just 31 minutes. He shot 12-for-20 overall and 8-for-12 on three-pointers, missing by one Ray Allen’s franchise record for threes, set in 2009 against Chicago.
Kemba Walker added 22 points and Jaylen Brown 20 for the Celtics. Marcus Smart (10) and Enes Kanter (10) also scored in double figures for Boston.
Embiid led all scorers with 34 points for the 76ers, who are playing the series without injured All-Star Ben Simmons. Embiid shot 11-for-21 from the field and 12-for-13 from the free throw line to account for his point total.
Utah Jazz 124-105 Denver Nuggets
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Jordan Clarkson added 26 to help the Utah Jazz run away with a 124-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their first round playoff series.
Mitchell also dished out eight assists to help the Jazz even the series at 1-1. Utah finished with 32 assists on 45 baskets and shot 20-of-44 from the three-point line. Royce O’Neale chipped in a career-high eight assists to help fuel the offense. The Jazz turned the ball over only eight times.
Nikola Jokic scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out six assists to lead Denver. Michael Porter Jr added 28 points for the Nuggets, who trailed for the entire second half.
Rudy Gobert’s buzzer-beating putback dunk capped a 22-6 run that gave the Jazz a 61-48 halftime lead. He had three baskets in that stretch and O’Neale added a pair of three-pointers.
Utah stretched their lead to 81-62 in the third quarter after making five straight three-pointers. Ingles and Mitchell each knocked down a pair of outside baskets in that stretch. Denver got no closer than a dozen points the rest of the way.
The Jazz exploded for 43 points in the third quarter overall. Mitchell scored 21 of his 30 points in the period.
Brooklyn Nets 99-104 Toronto Raptors
Norman Powell scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and Fred VanVleet had 24 points and 10 assists as the Toronto Raptors rallied to defeat the Brooklyn Nets 104-to grab a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
The Raptors fell behind by 14 in the first quarter of Game 2. The Nets still led by six entering the fourth quarter, but the defending NBA champion Raptors opened the period with a 19-5 run to lead 93-85 with 6:21 remaining.
Jarrett Allen’s dunk cut Toronto’s edge to 95-92 with 4:43 left. The lead climbed back to seven on two free throws by Kyle Lowry with 3:41 left. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot’s three-pointer with 39.8 seconds remaining pulled the Nets within 102-99.
Toronto were called for a 24-second violation to give Brooklyn the ball with 15 seconds left, but Powell took advantage of a Nets turnover and made the clinching dunk with 5.6 seconds left.
Lowry had 21 points for Toronto and Pascal Siakam added 19. Garrett Temple had 21 points for the Nets, Luwawu-Cabarrot added 17 points and Caris LeVert tallied 16 points and 11 assists. Allen and Joe Harris had 14 points and 15 rebounds each and Tyler Johnson scored 12 points.
