By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Dallas Mavericks failing to close out the best-of-seven series versus the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday leads up to a Game 7 planned to be held Sunday. The first-round series of the NBA Playoffs will shift back to Los Angeles to determine which side punches in a ticket for the Western Conference Semifinals.
Considering the visitors have prevailed in all six contests so far, the Clippers can have the home-court disadvantage in the winner-take-all Game 7. It surely has the makings of an epic matchup with Kristaps Porzingis going as far as previewing a war.
“It’s going to be a war, so we’re going to be prepared,” mentioned the Latvian big following the Game 6 loss. He had 3/7 field goals and seven points mostly helping his teammates rather than dominating the offense.
Kawhi Leonard with 45 points certainly was the theme of the sixth straight win on the road between the Clippers and Mavericks in this series.
“He destroyed us. That’s what it is,” confessed Luka Doncic, “That’s what he does. He had a hell of a game.”
“It’s Game 7. It doesn’t matter where you are,” added the Slovenian star, “You have to leave everything on the court. And that’s it.”
Doncic, 22, wrapped up his Game 7 effort with a team-high 29 points to go along with 11 assists, eight rebounds, and four assists.
“We all believe we can win in Game 7,” he said, “It’s the first to four wins.”
“We feel like we can beat them,” echoed Porzingis, “We’ll see who’s right and who’s wrong.”
The Utah Jazz will face the winner of Game 7 packing the home-court advantage provided by the Playoffs’ top seed. Sunday’s collision will finally provide them an opponent.
The remaining conference semifinal pairings set up the Philadelphia 76ers against the Atlanta Hawks, the Milwaukee Bucks versus the Brooklyn Nets, and the Phoenix Suns taking on the Denver Nuggets.
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