On May 4, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued. In today's Western Conference playoffs, the Mavericks defeated the Clippers at home to eliminate the Clippers by a 4-2 aggregate score and advance to the Western Conference semifinals, where they will face the Thunder.
The Mavericks hit an offensive surge in the first quarter, leading the Clippers 34-26 under Doncic. The Mavericks then fell into a scoring drought in the second quarter, and the Clippers tied the score before the end of the first half. Heading into the third quarter, the Mavericks quickly went on a 15-6 run to regain the lead and ended the third quarter with a 15-point lead. In the final quarter, the Mavericks withstood the Clippers' counterattack and finally won at home!
In this way, the Mavericks finished with a 4-2 overall score to eliminate the Clippers. To be clear, this is the third time in the past five years that the Mavericks and Clippers have met in the first round of the playoffs. After being eliminated by the Clippers in the first round in 2020 and 2021, Doncic led the Mavericks to finally climb the Clippers!
This is Doncic's fourth playoff appearance with the Mavericks since he entered the league, and only the second time he has made it past the first round. The last time he led the Mavericks to the first round was in 2022, when the Mavericks reached the Western Conference Finals but were eliminated by the Warriors.
After entering the semifinals, the Mavericks' opponent, the Thunder, met four times in the regular season, and the Mavericks only achieved a record of 1 win and 3 losses. The Thunder are the top regular season in the Western Conference this season, and they swept the Pelicans 4-0 in the first round to advance. Will the Mavericks be able to do the following again?