Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers grabs a rebound against Dorian Finney-Smith and Boban Marjanovic of the Dallas Mavericks and Ivica Zubac of the LA Clippers during the fourth quarter in Game Six of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 30, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Kawhi Leonard had 33 points and 14 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers eliminated Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks from the playoffs with a 111-97 victory Sunday in Game 6 of the first-round series.
Doncic capped a superb first postseason with 38 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, keeping it interesting into the fourth quarter even while playing without injured teammate Kristaps Porzingis.
But with Leonard reaching the 30-point mark for his career-best fifth straight playoff game and a strong defensive effort, the Clippers simply had too many answers.
The No. 2 seed in the Western Conference advanced to a second-round meeting with either Denver or Utah. The sixth-seeded Jazz were trying to close that series out in six games later on Sunday.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac added 15 points apiece for the Clippers, who turned up their defence in this one after winning Game 5 with the best offensive performance in their postseason history, when they shot 63 per cent and romped to a 154-111 victory.
Perhaps it was too much to ask to be that sharp again after a four-day layoff, but they didn’t need to be even while playing most of the game without starting forward Marcus Morris, who was ejected for a flagrant foul against Doncic in the first quarter.
Leonard also had seven assists and five steals. The Clippers said he was the first player in at least the past 20 postseasons with 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game.
The Mavericks had only two field goals in the first six minutes of the third quarter, both by Doncic, and by the time he made the second the Clippers had opened the half with a 20-3 run that turned a six-point lead into a 77-54 lead.
But Doncic kept coming at them, with a three-pointer and two three-point plays in the final 1:28 to cut it to 85-74.
He made another three-pointer that trimmed it to 88-82 with 9:27 to play, but Dallas couldn’t get any closer. Los Angeles began putting the ball in Leonard’s hands and he delivered with eight straight Clippers points before consecutive three-pointers by Reggie Jackson pushed it to 105-89.
Dallas was in its first postseason since 2016, but quickly learned about the physicality, mixing it up with Morris on multiple occasions.
The Clippers led by two when Morris was ejected for swinging his arm down and striking a driving Doncic in the head or neck area, but the Clippers finished the quarter with a 9-2 surge for a 34-29 lead. The Clippers picked up their defence in the second period, limiting the Mavs to 17 points and 33.3-per-cent shooting to open a 57-51 advantage at the break.