Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic (77) is fouled by Los Angeles Clippers' Russell Westbrook, right, during the second half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Dallas, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/ Tony Gutiérrez)

DALLAS — Luka Doncic screamed at his coaches during a series of James Harden 3-pointers.

The Mavericks superstar and NBA scoring champion wanted to defend the Los Angeles Clippers' star guard.

Suddenly, defense is number one in Dallas.

READ: NBA: Luka Doncic shines as Mavericks sink Clippers

Doncic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and the defensive-minded Mavericks had a 101-90 victory over the Clippers on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series of the NBA Playoffs.

The Mavericks mounted the same defense that gave them home-field advantage with a Game 2 victory in Los Angeles, and won in Dallas three years after losing all three first-round games on their home court in a seven-game losing streak. games for the Clippers. Game 4 is Sunday in Dallas.

“I think we all see that when we're on the defensive end, there's a different look in everyone's eyes,” said rookie center Dereck Lively II, who scored all 13 of his points in the first half when the Mavs had their lob play. going with 10 dunks before halftime. “It’s like being aggressive and being the aggressor even though you have the ball.”

Daniel Gafford, Lively's partner as dunker and rim protector, had an emphatic block of a Paul George dunk attempt early in the fourth quarter as Dallas took control for good in a game with five technical fouls, one flagrant foul and two ejections .

Harden scored 21 points for the Clippers, but just seven after halftime, while stars George and Kawhi Leonard had little impact.

READ: NBA: Clippers beat Mavericks in Game 1 without Kawhi Leonard

Norman Powell also had 21, and Ivica Zubac had 19 points and eight rebounds. But the Clippers had 19 turnovers and the Mavericks had seven blocks — three of them by Gafford and two by Lively.

George dealt with foul trouble and finished with seven points, five rebounds, five assists – and five fouls.

Leonard never looked comfortable in his second game back after missing nine games with right knee inflammation and recording nine points and nine rebounds.

“He just didn’t respond the way we wanted after the first game,” Leonard said of his surgically repaired knee. “But we will get it right. Time will tell. We are doing all the right things.”

Kyrie Irving picked up his fourth foul early in the second half before scoring 19 of his 21 points over the final 13-plus minutes, including eight in the final 1:18 of the third quarter. Doncic's co-star was instrumental in Dallas rebuilding an 18-point lead that had been cut to six.

An already tense game reached a boiling point midway through the fourth quarter when Russell Westbrook released Doncic after a foul.

Westbrook was called for a technical for that contact and for shoving P.J. Washington after Washington confronted him. Washington was also called for a technical during the sequence, and already had one from a previous game with Terance Mann.

Westbrook, who in the first half suffered a flagrant foul for excessive contact when he brought down Josh Green on a breakaway, and Washington were ejected.

Westbrook, who missed all seven shots and scored one point, drew the ire of the crowd once again when he fouled Doncic after Zubac was called for a foul when Doncic went up to shoot. The referees reviewed the play but ruled Westbrook's contact incidental.

“We need to channel our aggression in other ways,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “It’s getting hectic. I like the physicality. I like the difficult possessions. I like all of that. But we have to make sure we don’t commit technical fouls, we don’t get kicked out of the game, because everyone is important.”

Doncic, who briefly left the court after limping while clutching his right knee in the first quarter, made just 7 of 25 shots from the field and 3 of 14 from 3-point range.

But Dallas held George and Westbrook to a combined 1-of-10 from deep, while Leonard didn't even make three attempts among just seven shots in 25 minutes.

“He’s trying to find his way back,” Lue said. “We’re just managing it. Just being smart, making sure Kawhi does everything right and seeing how he feels and evaluating from there.


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Harden scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half with four 3-pointers in a three-minute span, starting in the final second of the first quarter. He didn't score again until the final minute of the third, when the Clippers finished with 19 turnovers and at the same time lost their composure.

“We’re all competing for every inch to find a way to win,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “This series is going to be more mental as it goes along just because of the physicality. I thought the guys did a great job protecting each other.”



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