Lesson learnt, Mavericks clip Clippers' wings

LOS ANGELES • In the first round of last season's National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs, Luka Doncic had a string of virtuoso displays, only for the Dallas Mavericks to go down 4-2 in their series match-up with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Having not been involved in the post-season for three straight campaigns, it was a steep learning experience for Dallas.

They have improved since, going from then-seventh seeds to fifth this term, and feel better prepared to exact a measure of revenge in a repeat of last year's match-up.

The Mavericks dropped Game 1 in August but this time, Dorian Finney-Smith hit two late three-pointers, one triggering a 7-0 burst that broke a tie to propel the visitors to a 113-103 victory over the fourth-seeded Clippers on Saturday.

Crucially, they have now also wrested home-court advantage away from Los Angeles. Game 2 will again be held at the Staples Centre tomorrow but Games 3 and 4 will be held at the American Airlines Centre in front of an expected 15,000-strong crowd.

Hitting four of his five three-point attempts, Finney-Smith finished with 18 points, while Luka Doncic had a triple-double, including a game-high 31 points, and teammate Tim Hardaway Jr added 21 for the Mavericks, who also won the regular-season series 2-1 over the Clippers.

It was Doncic's third triple-double in seven play-off games, all against the Clippers, and the second time the 2019 Rookie of the Year had scored at least 30 points in a play-off triple-double, previously recorded by only two players aged 22 or younger - LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"This is his time of year," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of the All-Star guard.

"He's one of the smartest basketball players you will ever meet at any age at any level."

The hosts sought to double-team Doncic, just like they did last term, and it worked to a certain extent after holding him to just one point in the fourth quarter.

So Dallas are counting on their role players, Finney-Smith, Hardaway Jr and reserve Jalen Brunson, who added a further 15 points, to pick up the scoring load when their star man is crowded out.

"When they don't double, attack it," Slovenian Doncic said. "When they double, there's someone who's going to be open. I've just got to read the game.

"We won the game. That's all that matters for me, if I have zero or 15 points in the last quarter."

For a team considered to be one of the NBA championship contenders, the Clippers' post-season loss, their fourth in a row dating to last year's bubble, is a worrying trend.

Coach Tyronn Lue, whose team were paced by 26 points from 2019 Finals Most Valuable Player Kawhi Leonard, hopes the defeat will act as a wake-up call.

"We had a lot of breakdowns, a lot of mistakes defensively that we didn't execute right," he said.

"We've got to clean those things up... We've got to all be on the same page defensively with what we are doing and when we are changing coverages."

Over at the Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin, Khris Middleton hit a clutch two-pointer with less than one second remaining as the Milwaukee Bucks snatched a thrilling 109-107 overtime victory against the Miami Heat.

Elsewhere, the Brooklyn Nets rallied from a 12-point second-quarter deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 104-93 in the Eastern Conference play-off openers.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS