Mavs up for a fight: Doncic

ORLANDO (Florida) • The warning signs were already evident in Game 1. Had Kristaps Porzingis not been ejected with almost two quarters to go - a soft call that was universally condemned as "bogus" - when the Dallas Mavericks were in the ascendancy, the Los Angeles Clippers may well have lost the first game in this series.

This time, though, there was no questionable officiating as the Latvian played the entire game and the Mavericks' quality shone as they stunned the National Basketball Association (NBA) contenders 127-114 to level their play-off series at one apiece.

Porzingis contributed 23 points and seven rebounds and such was Dallas' dominance that their lead never once slipped, even though their best player Luka Doncic sat out most of the fourth quarter at Disney World.

The reigning Rookie of the Year paced his team, who are in the post-season for the first time since 2016, with 28 points, breaking another record in the process.

In Game 1, the All-Star guard recorded 42 points - the most scored by a player on his play-off debut - and on Wednesday, he passed league great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the first player in history to score 70 points in his first two play-off games.

Last year's Finals Most Valuable Player Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 35 points, but the Clippers struggled to deal with the Mavericks' relentless shooting.

Their other All-Star forward, Paul George, could only add 14 points after running into foul trouble and Clippers coach Doc Rivers admitted he is worried the match-up is turning out to be a far more even contest than expected.

He said: "They (Dallas) were just looking us in the eye, taking us off the dribble, playing basketball. They played together, moved the ball. I thought that stood out.

"I think at half-time, we had seven assists. Our starters had two assists at half-time. I think we ended up with four assists from our starters.

"That's not how we've played all year. If we play like that, we can't win."

"I just thought they were the more physical team. They played harder. They attacked us. We didn't respond well."

The Clippers' primary defensive asset, Patrick Beverley, was limited to just 20 minutes in Game 1 and was absent on Wednesday due to a lingering calf problem that Rivers revealed could keep him out of Game 3 today.

With the tenacious guard missing, the Mavericks were able to free up their shooters easily. Their bench also stepped up, outscoring the Clippers' bench by 10.

That strength in depth will be key to upsetting one of the favourites for the championship, according to Doncic.

"We've just got three (wins) left," the Slovenian guard told ESPN. "We can fight with them. Any series we go in, we're going to believe we can win, for sure.

"If you don't believe it, you're not supposed to be here.

"That's great stats (overtaking Abdul-Jabbar), but we got a win. They (critics) should be saying we got a chance in this first round. A lot of people counted us out. But I know they should be saying we got a chance."

Porzingis, also playing in the play-offs for the first time, added: "We knew after the first game we were right there and we could compete with probably one of the favourites to win it all."

REUTERS