Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving help Dallas Mavericks beat LA Clippers to reach NBA playoff semi-finals

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving helped the Dallas Mavericks to a 114-101 victory against the Los Angeles Clippers, booking a place in the NBA Western Conference playoff semi-finals.

Both teams were level at 52-52 at half-time, but Irving’s impressive performance in the two final quarters of the match gave the Mavericks the edge. 

He scored 28 of his 30 points in the second half, while Doncic registered 28 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds across the match.

"To be honest with you, I was physically tired and exhausted in that first half," said Irving. "Playing defence at a high level will do that to you.

"I'm just grateful for my team-mates picking me up. We came into half-time and it was 52-52, so it was anybody's game.

"Then we came out in the third quarter and I feel like we hit first and the rest was history for the rest of the game."

The Mavericks had lost to the Clippers in the first round of the 2020 and 2021 playoffs, but this victory gave them a 4-2 series win in this year’s tournament.

They will now come up against the top seeds, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the semi-final series. This gets underway on Tuesday, May 7. 

Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-96 to tie their Eastern Conference first-round series at 3-3 and force a seventh game. 

Donovan Mitchell’s 50 points for the Cavaliers was not enough, with his impressive tally cancelled out by 27 points from Paolo Banchero and 26 points from Franz Wagner.

The Boston Celtics await the winner of the deciding game, which will be played in Cleveland on Sunday.

"Our guys will be ready for the moment," said Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff. "Our guys have been really good at home. We don't expect that to change."

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