Sports

Doncic leads Mavericks comeback and win in playoff series

Florida, United States, Aug 23 (efe-epa).- Slovenian guard Luka Doncic set another milestone in NBA playoffs history by achieving a triple-double of 43 points for the second consecutive game, 17 rebounds and 13 assists, helping the Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers 135-133 Sunday in overtime.

He also scored the three-pointer that sealed the victory of the Mavericks with just five-tenths of a second left.

The victory allows the Mavericks to tie the series, played to the best of seven, at 2-2. On Tuesday the fifth game will be played with the certainty that there will also be a sixth.

Despite playing with his left ankle bandaged after having suffered a sprain in the previous game that left him as doubtful till before the game, and without his injured star teammate, Kristaps Porzingis, Doncic took care of lead the comeback and victory for the Mavericks.

Before Doncic’s decisive action, Marcus Morris hit a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining in overtime to give the Clippers the lead.

But there was enough time left for Doncic to set the stage and answer with the same move in the shot he made while marked by Reggie Jackson, who could not prevent the Slovenian from scoring.

In this way, the Mavericks had their biggest comeback in playoff competition, overcoming a 21-point deficit in the second quarter.

The Mavericks began to react in the third period when they went on a 16-0 run that gave them the lead on the scoreboard and had as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter before the Clippers reacted to force extra time.

Reserve guard Lou Williams tied the score at 121 after scoring two of three free throws with 50.6 seconds remaining in regular time.

After Dallas couldn’t score on the next possession, the Clippers called a timeout to set up a play with 24.7 seconds left.

But forward Kawhi Leonard’s 3-point attempt went wide and then the Mavericks also missed with the high ball that sent Serbian center Boban Marjanovic looking for the dunk.

But Doncic had reserved the play of the match for extra time to show that not even the injury to his left ankle was going to prevent him from being the star and the hero of the match. EFE-EPA

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