By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
He had been battling a cold for days and has had knee problems for a few games already, but that didn’t stop Luka Doncic from dominating the LA Clippers.
The Slovenian star led the Dallas Mavericks to a 123-93 road win for a 3-2 advantage in the NBA Playoff first-round series before heading back home to the American Airlines Center for Game 6.
Luka finished the match with 35 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. He started his treatment in the fourth quarter with ice bags on his sprained knee.
His performance was reminiscent of Michael Jordan’s flu game when he scored 38 points with seven rebounds and five assists in the 1997 NBA Finals despite being ill.
Doncic admitted his illness made things “tough,” and his knee is “not really good.”
“But you talk about adrenaline in a playoff game. Once you get started, you want to do everything you can to help your team win. I just wanted to keep going,” Doncic said after the game.
Maxi Kleber helped him with 15 points, while Kyrie Irving and Jaden Hardy added 14 points each.
On the other side, Ivica Zubac had a solid outing with 15 points and six rebounds, while Paul George had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Before Luka dominated the Clippers, the Boston Celtics booked their place in the second round, defeating the Miami Heat 118-84 at home for a 4-1 win in the series.
Kristaps Porzingis missed the game due to injury, while Jaylen Brown and Derrick White led the Celtics with 25 points each.
On the other hand, Serbian forward Nikola Jovic had eight points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while Bam Adebayo led the way for the Heat with 23 points in the last game of the season.
Miami had too many injuries to cope with the team that achieved the best score in the League, with Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier missing the whole series.