You had to finish the job, properly, to afford the right to climb one step closer to the avowed goal: the supreme title. It was not always easy, it was sometimes even really tense, but that’s it the Clippers are there. Conference semi-finals validated, but this series against the Mavericks will not have been easy.
The last time Doc Rivers’ men – yes, it was already him – pulled off the performance of qualifying for the conference semi-finals? It was five years ago, at the end of a phenomenal series against Spurs then reigning champions, after a Game 7 finally won by a Chris Paul more clutch than ever and a Blake Griffin which clings a little too much to the net but we won’t say anything. The rest will be… special, with a loss to the supercharged Rockets, because at the time Lob City was above all a franchise of losers. Five years later ? The loss is no longer, thank you first to the Montrezl Harrell / Lou Williams duo, incredible last season, but especially to Kawhi Leonard, who brought back to California his legendary calm and especially his proven ability to win wherever it passes.
Observation therefore validated tonight, with this qualifying for the halfs thanks to a generally controlled Game 6, thanks to a Kawhi Leonard once again exceptional, but not thanks to a Marcus Morris once again undrinkable. A balanced start to the match with Mavs hanging on, an end of the first quarter punctuated by the exclusion of Momo, and Luka Doncic who is quietly setting off, because the salvation will apparently not come tonight from… Tim Hardaway Jr ., terribly drunk and necessarily terribly awkward (4/15 in the end including 2/11 from the parking lot). At halftime the Clippers are ahead of six small points but will quickly go above the ten with a first run of recovery, and from there it will be the race to the exploit for the men of Rick Carlisle. A race to the feat obviously orchestrated by Luka Doncic, in a last burst of pride, which tonight will seek a new line of historic stats for a kid of his age. A second half at 100 per hour, a 38/9/9 in the end and the desire to give a big hug of love to a guy who could very quickly come and chat in a good bunch of all-time rankings . Luka superstar therefore, but above all a superstar Luka, qHe notably saw Kawhi Leonard send him calmly back to Children’s Island. A new mixtape of the quiet force of the West, 33/14/7/5 / bang-bang, an MVP match, the match it took to drive the Clippers since his usual lieutenants unscrewed and instead left their place this harms the role players Ivica Zubac, Reggie Jackson and JaMychal Green, all authors of a big match, in their roles of their own, in short… role players what.
The final score? 111-97, and mavs which ultimately failed to fill the absence of Kristaps Porzingis on this end of the series. On the Clippers side, we are moving forward and that was the least of things, while for Dallas the exit could be accompanied by bravos as Luka Doncic and his little friends have offered a good resistance to the big war machine of Doc Rivers. And you know what ? If we do the same series again in a year, on equal terms as El Matador would say, well… we could have some surprises.
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