The Los Angeles Clippers have their backs against the wall after a truly dismal effort in Game 5.
The Clippers try to avoid elimination and even their Western Conference first-round series when they visit the Dallas Mavericks for Game 6 on Friday night.
Dallas rode a strong performance from star guard Luka Doncic to a convincing 123-93 road victory on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
But the most startling development of the night was how poorly Los Angeles played when it had a chance to take the series lead at home.
"We just didn't play well, all-around, defensively, offensively," Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. "We just didn't play a good game, and that's OK. Turn the page. You still got to win four games, and we know we can win on that floor."
Los Angeles will be without star forward Kawhi Leonard (knee) for the third straight game as it fights to stay alive.
The Clippers shot just 37.9 percent from the field and were a dismal 9-of-35 from 3-point range during Game 5.
James Harden was the biggest culprit as he scored just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting. Harden was 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
"Being human," Lue said of Harden's struggles. "He's allowed to have a bad game. We didn't shoot the ball well. They tried to get up and pressure a little bit, which we didn't handle like we had in the first four games. He played bad. It's possible. He didn't play well.
"So I got to do a better job getting him in better situations and then being ready for Game 6, which I know he'll be better."
Doncic was plenty good while playing through a cold and a balky right knee. He was 14 of 26 from the field and had 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Doncic is averaging 30.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the series but is just a paltry 26.3 percent (15-of-57) from 3-point range.
"Obviously, my shooting is not great. Not even good. Very bad actually," Doncic said. "I was just getting downhill. The first four 3s I took felt great, just didn't go in, but my whole mentality was just getting downhill."
Still, Doncic is carrying Dallas in the opening round even if his long-range shooting stroke is missing in action.
"I always speak on his resilience," Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said. "He's not feeling a hundred percent, but he's still going to go out there and play. For me as a teammate, I enjoy that. I enjoy being around somebody like that that's going to push themselves but also be smart and still make an impact on the game -- and still empty his clips, as we like to say."
Dallas is trying to advance in the postseason for just the second time in its past eight trips.
The Mavericks reached the Western Conference finals two seasons ago before losing to the Golden State Warriors in five games. But in their previous two attempts, Dallas was eliminated by the Clippers -- in the 2020 and 2021 postseasons -- with Los Angeles winning the final two games each time.
Lue sees no reason why his club can't do that for a third time.
"We've shown that (the) past two playoff series," Lue said of the matchup against Dallas. "We were down 3-2 (in 2021). We didn't play our best game and we understand that. I think we all understand that collectively. So we'll be better for Game 6."
The Mavericks are very much aware that the Clippers will be delivering their best punch on Friday.
"It's not over until you get four wins," Dallas forward Maxi Kleber said. "They showed how much talent they have. So we got to take the next game very seriously. You got to come out and play with the right mindset again."
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