Kawhi Leonard Paul George rise to challenge as LA Clippers take Game 3 in Dallas Down 30-11 .minutes

Down 30-11 just minutes into Game 3 before the biggest and most hostile crowd they've faced all season, the LA Clippers responded Friday night with a performance that might have saved their season.

After head coach Ty Lue said they would show what they're made of in a must-win game, the visiting Clippers overcame another monster night from Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic with perhaps the best combined effort they've received from Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with all that was at stake.

Leonard and George combined to score 65 points in a 118-108 win over the Mavericks in front of a raucous 17,705 fans at American Airlines Center, cutting Dallas' first-round series lead to 2-1.

"We're down 2-1. We haven't shown anything," said George, who scored 22 of his 29 points in the first half. "We're not the favorites [to win it all]. We're not the defending champs. We haven't shown anything.

"We have to continue to keep doing it. We've got to win this series, but it's one game at a time. We've got to win Game 4 and send it back to L.A. Take home-court advantage. But off one win, we haven't shown anything."

Lue might disagree. The Clippers, a team that blew a 3-1 series lead in the second round last year against Denver, were staring at the possibility of falling behind 3-0 and what would almost certainly be yet another postseason failure.

With their season on the line, the Clippers opened Game 3 looking like they were heading straight toward the offseason. Despite inserting Reggie Jackson into the starting lineup in place of Patrick Beverley, the Clippers trailed 30-11 with 4 minutes, 38 seconds left as Doncic scored 11 points in the first quarter. The Mavericks' star -- who finished with 44 points, nine assists and nine rebounds -- continued to torch the Clippers' defense, especially on switches onto big man Ivica Zubac.

But the Clippers went to a small lineup, and their offense took off. They outscored the Mavericks 52-31 the rest of the first half, including a 20-4 run in the first quarter.

The Mavericks could not stop Leonard for the second straight game. After scoring 41 points in Game 2, Leonard made 11 of his first 12 shots before finishing with 36 points and eight rebounds. He made 13 of 17 shots in Game 3 and joined LaMarcus Aldridge as the only players with 35 points on 67% field goal shooting in consecutive playoff games in the shot-clock era (since 1955), according to data from ESPN Stats & Information.

With George carrying the Clippers in the first half and Leonard scoring from his spots, the duo halted the Clippers' five-game losing streak in the postseason dating to last year.

"Those guys are killers," said Marcus Morris, who broke out of his playoff shooting slump with 15 points after getting an encouraging phone call from his twin brother, Markieff, at halftime. "No matter what's being said in the media and what's being said in the outside world, them guys come in and work their ass off every single game."

Entering Game 3, Lue said that everyone would see what the Clippers were made of with their backs up against the wall. Lue simplified the defense to help limit the breakdowns and communication issues. And even though the Clippers didn't have Serge Ibaka (back), they played their best defense of the series by getting enough stops to win.

On Friday, the Clippers held Tim Hardaway Jr. to 12 points and 4-for-14 shooting. They also outscored the Mavericks 46-24 in the paint, which was a major point of emphasis for the Clippers.

"We felt like we weren't playing our game to begin with to be down 0-2," George said. "We felt like we weren't playing our style, and I thought tonight we got to that. This is where we hang our hat on, playing on the defensive side, and we didn't show any defense the first two games."

Now they're back in this series and have a chance to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2 in Game 4 on Sunday and take home-court advantage back to L.A.

"Obviously, backs against the wall," point guard Rajon Rondo said of the Clippers showing veteran poise and their playoff experience. "Champions respond. We can't crown ourselves too early, but understand to have that mindset that when things get wrong, we got to fight, and tonight we stuck to the fight, down 19. I think that's one of the biggest obstacles in the playoffs.

"We haven't done anything special though. We won one game, and we'll watch the film tomorrow and see how we can come out better on Sunday and hopefully have the same type of outcome."

Trae Young dishes 14 assists, leads Atlanta Hawks to 2-1 series lead over New York Knicks

At the end of a Game 2 loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young -- the newly minted subject of Knicks fans' aggression -- walked off the court and looked back toward the fans.

He told the crowd that the Hawks would "see you in the 'A.'"

On Friday night, Young and the rest of the Hawks welcomed New York to Atlanta with a 105-94 Game 3 win to take a 2-1 advantage in the first-round playoff series in front of 15,743 fans at State Farm Arena.

The Knicks were more aggressive in defending Young on Friday, blitzing him more as they tried to slow down his scoring efforts. He still led the Hawks with 21 points, but he also had a game-high 14 assists to go along with just two turnovers.

Young was at his best in the first half when he had 10 assists and zero turnovers in a half for the first time in his career. Hawks coach Nate McMillan said Young needed to take advantage of what the Knicks gave him, and he did just that.

"When they are collapsing in the paint as New York's defense does, the perimeter is open," McMillan said. "He has to find those guys and get the ball to the shooters. If they stay on the perimeter, then he has the ability to attack the big in the paint.

"It's making reads and making sure that he takes care of the ball. He only had two turnovers tonight. That's a really good game for a point guard -- 21, 14 and two. Those are great numbers that we want to see and we expect to see. He's good enough to put those numbers up."

After the Knicks knotted up the series on Wednesday, Young was not dejected. Walking off the court at Madison Square Garden, he seemed almost happy that he'd get to take his Hawks into battle in a home playoff contest with a nearly full arena.

"The energy, the buzz in the building was great," Young said. "Just having the fans back definitely helped. Their energy, we really fed off it the whole game. ... This is my first experience at home in the playoffs. I'm looking forward to having a lot more of these. It's so much fun. There's so much buzz in the building."

Young averaged 31 points in the first two games of the series. Despite his scoring taking a dip on Friday, he was able to get his teammates involved. In Game 1, Young scored or assisted on 56 points. In Game 2, that number dipped to 46. On Friday, it bounced back up to 54.

"For me, I have to find ways to score whether it's me getting downhill and scoring or finding the open man," Young said. "Tonight I needed to find the open man because they were being so aggressive. It's really just making the right reads."

In part because of Young's playmaking skills, the Hawks were able to shoot 51.9% from the field and 16-of-27 from deep. That hot shooting helped the Hawks overcome a wide free throw disparity. The Knicks went 27-of-30 from the line, while Atlanta was just 5-of-8. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the minus-22 margin was the third-worst free throw differential in a playoff win in NBA history.

Young led seven Hawks in double figures, including the rest of the starting lineup -- Bogdan Bogdanovic (15), John Collins (14), Clint Capela (13) and De'Andre Hunter (11). McMillan said Young's growing trust in those players has fueled his advancement throughout the season and into this series.

"He's showing some growth in his play and managing and understanding what he needs to do out on the floor," McMillan said. "He's keeping all of those guys involved while continuing to stay aggressive. And he's making good reads. And we've talked a number of times -- he has to cut down his turnovers. He's too good of a passer to have five, six turnovers a game. Two is OK. But five, six is a big number for a guy who passes as well as he does."

Bogdanovic, who joined the Hawks as a free agent in November 2020 to help provide even more shooting and close out games, said Young makes the game "simple" for his teammates. Bogdanovic also knows the best is yet to come for the third-year point guard.

"Like Nate said, he's like a Ferrari," Bogdanovic said. "And he's just learning to drive the car."

Milwaukee Bucks lose starter Donte DiVincenzo for playoffs with ankle injury

Milwaukee Bucks starting guard Donte DiVincenzo will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs with a torn ligament in his left ankle, the team announced Friday.

DiVincenzo suffered the injury in the second quarter of Thursday's 113-84 win over the Miami Heat. DiVincenzo was driving toward the basket when he apparently took a bad step and immediately winced in obvious pain. He made his way back to the other end of the court toward the Milwaukee bench, slapped a sideline barrier in frustration and then hopped into the locker room for evaluation.

The Bucks originally called it a left foot contusion, and coach Mike Budenholzer said there was hope within the team after the game that DiVincenzo would miss only a small amount of time.

An MRI on Friday took that hope away.

"It's a tough blow, but you have to kind of process and understand it's an unfortunate thing, but we have to prepare and get ready," Budenholzer said. "Other guys will have opportunities."

DiVincenzo, 24, had started 66 games during the regular season -- averaging career highs of 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists -- and all three playoff games.

"On an individual, personal level for Donte, it's really, really tough," Budenholzer said. "But his mentality, his approach, any time Donte is thrown some adversity or thrown something that's difficult for himself or for everybody, the way he handles it just continues to be impressive."

The Bucks, who hold a 3-0 series lead over the Heat, will look to close out the first-round series Saturday.

Budenholzer's move will be to decide who starts Game 4. The lineup of DiVincenzo along with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez was 34-14 this season.

An option may be to start Jeff Teague, a move that would allow Budenholzer to keep what has become his traditional second unit -- primarily with Bryn Forbes and Pat Connaughton getting the backup guard minutes -- intact. Teague has played only 5 minutes, 26 seconds in the three playoff games, all during Thursday's Game 3 blowout.