Doncic drops 35 points as Mavs destroy Clippers for 3-2 lead

LOS ANGELES – Luka Doncic delivered a 35-point performance as the Dallas Mavericks thrashed the Los Angeles Clippers, 123-93, on the road to take a 3-2 series lead on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).

The 30-point margin of defeat was the Clippers' heaviest ever NBA playoff loss.

The Mavericks, who can clinch the series with victory in Game 6 back in Texas on Friday, pulled away toward the end of the first half to open up a 56-46 lead at the break.

They extended that advantage to 20 points after outscoring Los Angeles 33-23 in the third quarter, and piled on in the fourth to open up a 32-point advantage at one stage.

Doncic added 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Maxi Kleber chipped 15 points from the bench. Kyrie Irving had a relatively quiet night with 14 points.

"In the playoffs it doesn't matter if you win by one point or you win by 50 point(s) — but it's still a good win," Doncic said afterwards.

"But the job is not done. We've got one more we need to win. We're gonna get ready for next game."

The Clippers were left licking their wounds after a humiliating loss that saw their offense make just nine of 35 attempted 3-pointers, and 33-of-87 from the field.

Paul George and Ivica Zubac led the scoring with a meager 15 points each, while James Harden added just seven points and Russell Westbrook six from the bench.

"We didn't play our best game, we understand that collectively. We'll be better for Game 6," Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

"Overall we weren't good on both sides of the basketball and just had a bad day."

Asked what he attributed Harden's poor performance to, Lue replied: "Being human. He's allowed to have a bad game."