Luka Doncic and the upstart Mavericks lost a big one to the Clippers the last time they played, and they didn’t forget it.

They put on a tough front on their home floor in the first quarter, matching up with the Clippers and hustling up and down the court to end it 24-24.

As usual, Doncic provided highlight reel plays, the most memorable of which was a circus three that he made while trying to draw a foul in the first quarter.

The first quarter was punctuated by an unfortunate injury, which saw Dallas forward Dwight Powell slip and visibily hurt himself. The right Achilles injury looked serious and could possibly be a season-ending one for a key rotation player for the Mavericks. This couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the playoff race is getting tighter in the Western Conference.

The Clippers found their rhythm in the second quarter, though. Led by Kawhi Leonard, they went on a 16-0 run that turned a six-point Mavericks lead into their own 10-point advantage.

The Clippers used a balanced offense along with strong rebounding to build their lead at the end of the second quarter. Here’s who their leading players were at halftime:

Kawhi Leonard (14 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 2 BLK)
Ivica Zubac (9 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL)
Patrick Beverley (9 PTS, 4 REB, 4 STL)
Lou Williams (10 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST)
Landy Shamet (10 PTS, 1 STL)

By contrast, Doncic was the only heavy hitter the Mavericks could rely on in the first half. He had 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists at the break. He was not efficient, only making 25% of his field including 1 of 4 from three. He also shot 3 of 6 from the charity stripe.

No other Maverick scored in double figures after two quarters– explaining why the lead was 60-49 going into the third.

Dallas again showed why they’re the best third quarter team in the league 

JJ Barea started the second half for the Mavericks and was a desperately needed spark plug. His dish to Kristaps Porzingis helped the Mavericks cut the lead to six with 7:42 remaining in the third. Tim Hardaway Jr. followed up with a corner three to make cut the lead to 64-67.

Leonard continued his strong play in the third quarter, using his offensive tools to keep the Clippers afloat. They showed poise and built their lead back up, helped by Montrezl Harrell who had several big buckets in the paint.

Luka helped key another small run in the last two minutes of the third quarter that saw the Clippers’ lead cut to 82-78.

The Mavericks started the fourth quarter with their star floor general on the bench, and they had a tough go with generating enough offense to keep up with the Clippers.

This wasn’t helped by their bad rebounding, and they continued to allow way too many offensive rebounds that led to huge second-chance points. Montrezl Harrell (12 PTS, 9 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL) feasted on the Mavericks’ frontline, getting a seemingly endless supply of putbacks.

Frustrated by the rebounding, Rick Carlisle put 7’4″ center Boban Marjanovic (12 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST) in and his size seemed to give his former team trouble.

Dallas jumped back into the game with a little over eight minutes left thanks to back-to-back three pointers from Seth Curry and Porzingis.

By the time Doncic returned to the game with 6:22 left, Dallas was only two behind. Marjanovic then made a bucket on that possession to tie the game at 90. Doncic then drew a shooting foul and sank both of his free throws to give his team a 92-90 lead with 5:47 remaining.

The rest of the game was tight, with the teams exchanging leads and ties. Leonard used his peerless mid-range game to keep the game close as the Mavericks continually had trouble making their three pointers.

Harrell made a pair of free throws with 2:28 left to push LA’s lead to 102-98, and Shamet capped off the 8-0 run to make it 105-98.

Dallas went on a run of their own to get the game to within three at 108-105 with 24.6 seconds left in the game. They also stole the inbounds pass, which led to Hardaway having a wide open three to tie the game, but he missed.

Jamychal Green bricked both of his free throws with 13.2 seconds left, allowing the Mavericks to call a timeout and advance the ball. Doncic then got fouled intentionally to prevent a three pointer, and he missed both of his free throws, the second of which was an intentional attempt to get an offensive rebound.

Leonard (36 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK) iced the game with a pair of free throws. Doncic (34 PTS, 10 REB, 9 AST, 2 BLK) made a meaningless final bucket to end the game 110-107.

Dallas will be disappointed, especially after they came back from multiple double-digit deficits only to falter in the closing moments of the game. They’ll only have themselves to blame for this loss.

Doc Rivers will be happy with the win, especially because it helped the Clippers claim second place in the Western Conference Standings. The Mavericks stay as the fifth seed with the loss.