NBA Playoffs: Top moments from Clippers eliminating Mavericks, Trae burning Sixers
With every ending, there's a new beginning.
Sunday's NBA action featured a do-or-die Game 7 between the LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks in Los Angeles, but first, the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup.
Right off the bat, the good news rolled in for the Sixers, as it was announced Sunday morning that superstar big man Joel Embiid would play after missing Game 5 of Philly's first-round series against the Washington Wizards because of a small tear in the meniscus of his right knee.
The good times were short-lived, however, as Trae Young & Co. ran out to a huge lead early in Game 1. The Sixers battled back to make it a game late, but Atlanta escaped with a 128-124 victory.
In Los Angeles, the Clippers got a terrific Game 7 performance from Kawhi Leonard to earn an elusive 126-111 win at home to clinch the series and set up a date with the Utah Jazz in the conference semis.
Here are the best moments from Sunday's slate of NBA action:
LA Clippers 126, Dallas Mavericks 111 (Clippers advance 4-3)
They're the best two words in sports.
The Clippers and Mavericks faced off in a win-or-go-home Game 7 on Sunday, and no one was more on edge than Skip Bayless.
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The Mavericks got off to a big start – literally – throwing both Boban Marjanovich and Kristaps Porziņģis in the starting lineup.
But calamity struck for the Mavericks early in the contest, as starting shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. made his way to the locker room with an apparent ankle injury.
Luckily for Dallas, Hardaway returned soon after, but the pressure was on Luka Dončić to deliver even more for Dallas if THJ couldn't offer 100%.
Dončić got off to a solid start, connecting on three 3s in the first quarter.
He finished the frame with 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting, and at the end of one, Dallas led 38-35.
The Clippers got in gear in the second quarter, though, with contributions from up and down the roster.
After putting up a goose egg in the first quarter, Paul George did most of the heavy lifting in the second, but Terance Mann's rebound and subsequent slam were surely a highlight.
George wound up with 13 points in the frame as the Clippers built a 70-62 lead heading into the break.
Meanwhile, Dončić kept his exploits going, finishing the first half with 29 points to lead all scorers.
The Mavs came out scorching hot to start the third quarter, erasing LA's lead by the 10-minute mark to knot things up at 72 apiece.
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Dallas built a lead of five points, but the Clippers flexed back with a 12-0 run to reclaim control.
The shooting for Dallas went ice cold in the latter part of a frenetic third quarter, which finished with the Clippers holding a 15-point lead at 100-85.
A 24-4 run to close the quarter had the Clippers smelling the first home win of the series. They kept rolling in the fourth quarter, building a lead as large as 19.
In crunch time, a pair of unlikely heroes quashed any Dallas designs on a comeback.
Reggie Jackson canned a 3 with 1:45 left, and Marcus Morris Sr. — who finished with 23 points — buried one on the ensuing Clippers possession.
Following that, the Clippers hit their free throws down the stretch to keep the game out of reach, booking passage to the next round of the playoffs.
Dončić ended his sensational run in the postseason with 46 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, but it wasn't enough to keep Dallas in the hunt.
Atlanta Hawks 128, Philadelphia 76ers 124 (Hawks lead 1-0)
The City of Brotherly Love got the game going in epic fashion, recruiting WWE legend Triple H to ring the victory bell alongside Embiid.
Speaking of Embiid, he got off to a hot start, with a smooth 3-pointer for his first field goal of the game.
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As nice as that was, nobody was touching Young in the first quarter. He got off to a blazing start, racking up 12 points in the first 12 minutes.
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He also got his teammates involved, picking up five assists in the opening period as the Hawks ran out to a 42-27 lead out of the gate.
The hits kept coming in the second quarter, as Philly struggled to keep up offensively.
When the buzzer sounded for halftime, the Hawks had built their lead to 20 points, at 74-54.
After the break, the league's second-best defense started to show up for the Sixers, trapping Young in an effort to force the other Hawks to make more of an impact.
The bad news for Philadelphia is that those other players seized the opportunity, including Kevin Huerter.
The sharpshooting of Huerter, along with Young still making his presence felt, resulted in a 99-83 score in favor of the Hawks heading into the fourth quarter.
After flirting with making a run and closing the gap, Philadelphia finally succeeded and cut the deficit to three points with 1:01 remaining.
The two Eastern Conference heavyweights went at it down the stretch, with Atlanta leading 121-118 with 23.2 seconds left.
But Atlanta bowed up when it mattered. After John Collins hit a pair of clutch free throws, Young found Collins for a thunderous alley-oop dunk to push the score to 126-118.
Collins then converted the and-1. But Philadelphia wouldn't go away quietly, cutting the score to 126-124.
Eventually, the Hawks held up and earned a 128-124 win in dramatic fashion, taking Game 1 against the top seed in the East.
Young finished with 35 points and 10 assists to lead Atlanta, while Embiid set the pace for all scorers with 39 points.
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