Luka Doncic worked through several ailments tonight to lead his Mavericks to a blowout victory in Game 5 | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports LA’s Game 4 standouts failed to show up meaningfully in the game 5 loss The Dallas Mavericks won every quarter, shot 54% for the night, and had easy going with the Los Angeles Clippers after halftime in a 123-93 blowout win. A tight first half (12 lead changes) was characterized by horrid outside shooting, fits and bursts of exciting action, and the raggedness that tends to come with these high-stakes games. Dallas paired a quartet of threes from Maxi Kleber with a methodically-attacking Luka Doncic to pull ahead by the half. Los Angeles capitulated to the Mavericks’ suffocating defense in the third period - meekly putting up four points over the first 7 1⁄2 minutes of action, and fell too far behind to mount the type of comeback Dallas executed on Sunday afternoon. Doncic (35 points and 10 assists) was bolstered by a solid Kyrie Irving start (14 points and 6 assists), a stellar Kleber second quarter (15 points), and strong bench contributions from Derrick Lively, Jr. (12 points and 7 rebounds) and Jaden Hardy (14 points) On top of Los Angeles’ 38% shooting, Paul George (15 points and 11 rebounds; he was PG-15 tonight) came nowhere near his Game 4 totals on Sunday. Ivica Zubac (15 points and 6 rebounds) and Terence Mann (11 points and 7 rebounds) were the only starters who registered double figures and along with Norman Powell (14 points), equalled what Kawhi Leonard might generate by himself on one of his better days. James Harden (2-for-12, 7 points, and 7 assists) nearly replicated his 2017 Game 6 effort against the Spurs in the loss. The teams picked up where they left off from Sunday’s game, putting up 19 points in 3+ minutes of action. Dallas, given Doncic’s several health issues, let Irving cook to the tune of two lobs to his bigs and two buckets. The Clippers were delighted to get eight points from Zubac. The teams passed the 30 point mark together by the 6:00 mark. Zubac and Mann tallied 15 of Los Angeles’ first 17 points oddly enough. The teams found more success in the paint than from distance. The offenses sputtered in the last minutes, and the Mavericks left the frame up one. After some jarring back-and-forth between the teams to start the second quarter, a Kleber corner three put Dallas up five. The Clippers relied more on their bench by necessity, and Zubac continued his interior effectiveness to remain close to the Mavericks. Irving spoonfed Daniel Gafford an amazing lob from halfcourt to cap a 8-0 run, and the Mavericks pushed their lead out to ten going into the half. In what turned out to be the deciding third period, and while Dallas’ defense pestered Los Angeles into 1-for-9 shooting, Doncic and Irving helped increase the Clippers’ deficit to 23. Westbrook put up a quick four points to stop the bleeding momentarily, but Doncic found Lively with yet another lob. George’s six points mattered little as the Clippers went into the final frame down 69-89. Observations Probably as a set-up to tonight’s game 5, ESPN.com had a lengthy article on something called ‘Decel’ - Harden and Doncic’s pet move of decelerating after a drive to distract or throw off defenders to the tune of countless free throws and numerous annoyances. Someone should calculate Leonard’s missed game total and link to how much salary he’s been bankrolled. It feels like it’s starting to border on Ben Simmons-level grifting. All of Westbrook’s attempts looked like something out of a bad mixtape tonight. Right out of the gates, Irving took the lead guard position to score a quick bucket and tossed a smooth lob to PJ Washington. Zubac tossed in a quick eight of his own at or near the basket. Derrick Jones’ corner three put Dallas up two. The Mavericks got their third lob of the quarter - this time to Lively. A tightly contested quarter with 12 lead changes resulted in Dallas slightly ahead 25-24. The Mavericks and Clippers traded baskets to stay neck-and-neck until Kleber’s second three pushed Dallas up six. Zubac’s 10th point (on perfect shooting), along with Powell and Mann’s scoring, helped steady the morose Los Angeles offense. Kleber’s third three nudged the Dallas advantage to eight. Zubac slithered around Lively to earn an and-1, while the Mavericks missed several freebies. Doncic willed home some jumpers to keep applying pressure on the hosts. Kleber’s fourth straight three, as part of an 8-0 run, propelled Dallas to a 56-46 advantage at the half. Irving’s incredible transition and-1 put Dallas up a dozen partway through the third. The Clippers’ marquee names continue to struggle noticeably - a litany of possessions mired in bricks and confusion. While Los Angeles was stuck at 50 for some time, an intense Doncic kept his opponents guessing and a 14-0 run deflated all of the air out of the Clippers’ sails. Things got so dire for Los Angeles, that they brought PJ Tucker out of mothballs to help defend. Undeterred, Doncic’s stepback three put the Mavericks up 25. George put up two quick straightaway threes; yet Josh Green’s four-point play sent Dallas into the fourth up 20. In the fourth quarter, a process of bodies hit the floor on both sides with little affect to the score. After Harden squirted the ball out of bounds, Irving extended the lead out to 27 with a pull-up jumper, and Tyronn Lue threw the white flag. The teams return to Dallas for a potentially decisive Game 6 on Friday night at 8:30 PM CDT.