NBA Dallas Counterattacks with ‘Defense' Against Clippers with Leonard's Return
96-93 win, 1 win, 1 loss in the series… Doncic had 32 points and 9 assists.
The Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) achieved their first win on the counterattack by tying down the LA Clippers' main guns, who were fully equipped.
Dallas defeated the Clippers 96-93 in the second game of the first round (4 wins out of 7) of the 2023-2024 NBA Western Conference Playoffs (PO) held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, USA on the 24th (Korean time).
Dallas, which lost the first game 97-109, brought the game back to square one and predicted a fierce battle in the series. 온라인카지노
The two teams' strengths during the regular season were similar.
The Clippers were fourth in the West with 51 wins and 31 losses, and Dallas was fifth with 50 wins and 32 losses.
The Clippers were expected to dominate until the jump ball in the second game.
This is because there was news that ace Kawhi Leonard would overcome his injury and return to the court.
In the first game in which Leonard was absent, Dallas, which was completely defeated by giving up 28 points to James Harden, could not have been happy with the news that the opponent had prepared a ‘complete' force.
Dallas, who was desperate, laughed in the second game by successfully defending Leonard, Harden, and Paul George, who are considered the ‘big three'.
Leonard scored 15 points, Harden scored 22 points, and Paul George scored 22 points.
Everyone was tied under 25 points.
In particular, Leonard, who had just returned, had a low field goal success rate of 41.2%.
He attempted five 3-pointers, but missed them all.
As key players performed poorly, the Clippers' offensive power also plummeted.
The team's overall field goal success rate was only 36.8%, and the 3-point success rate was in the 20% range (26.7%).
Dallas' ace Luka Doncic also had a hard time against the Clippers, who had excellent man-to-man defense players such as Leonard and George, but still scored over 30 points.
Doncic, who scored 32 points, served as the engine of Dallas' offense by providing 9 assists.
In particular, I played my part in the competition department.
About 2 minutes before the end of the game, which was trailing at 84-81, Maxi Kleber created a 3-point opportunity, and immediately after, he hit a difficult 3-pointer in front of Harden to beat the Clippers.
Guard Kyrie Irving, who forms a one-two punch with Doncic, also added 23 points, including four 3-pointers.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, ranked 3rd in the West (56-26), defeated the 6th-ranked Phoenix Suns (49-33) at home 105-93, bringing the series record to 2-0.
Phoenix, which ran a season without a point guard by sending veteran guard Chris Paul to the Washington Wizards before the start of this season, struggled for two consecutive games due to the lack of a point guard.
On this day, Phoenix committed 19 errors and virtually destroyed itself.
Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, who were in charge of the game, made a combined 10.
The assists provided by the two players were 11, which was not much different from the number of errors made.
In Minnesota, veteran point guard Mike Conley led the victory with 18 points.
