‘He’s a bad boy’: Mavs take Game 4 on Luka Doncic’s buzzer-beater in OT to even series against Clippers

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The lineup scratch happened moments before tipoff and it was doubly shocking. Not only because of which Maverick star was scratched, but because it wasn’t the one everyone knew was hurt.

Mavericks fans still were rejoicing the fact that Luka Doncic, despite a sprained left ankle, would play in Game 4 against the Clippers when news came that Kristaps Porzingis would not play due to a sore right knee.

Fortunately for fans, that would not be the last or biggest seismic event of this memorable Sunday afternoon. The Mavericks fell behind by 21 points in the second quarter, but Doncic led a franchise-record rally to beat the Clippers 135-133 in overtime and tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2.

Doncic looked slowed by the ankle injury early, but sizzled thereafter, finishing with 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists — including a game-winning buzzer-beater in OT — for his second straight triple-double of the playoffs.

It was Doncic’s drive-the-lane, body-spinning layup with 19 seconds left in overtime that gave Dallas a 132-130 lead, but the Clippers’ Marcus Morris drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with nine seconds left.

The Clippers had a foul to give and did so, fouling Doncic with 3.7 seconds left. After a timeout, Dallas inbounded to Doncic, who bombed in a 3-pointer for the victory.

Before Sunday, the largest Mavericks postseason comeback in a winning effort was 19 points against San Antonio on May 27, 2003. Dallas trailed 44-25 that day and won 103-91.

As Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told ABC during a post-third-quarter interview: “He’s a bad boy. He’s a tough dude, man. He’s a gamer. That’s how he is.”

At 21 years, 117 days old, Doncic joined LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to record a 30-point triple-double in the playoffs before turning 22.

Doncic also joined Magic Johnson (5) and James (2) as the only players in history to record multiple playoff triple-doubles at age 21 or younger.

The Mavericks trailed 54-33 with 7:33 left in the second quarter before making their big comeback behind Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. (21 points), Trey Burke (25 points) and Seth Curry (15 points).

The Mavericks led 121-117 after Hardaway made two of three free throws with 1:39 left, but Kawhi Leonard made a shot in the lane, and Doncic missed a driving shot with 1:02 left.

Lou Williams made two of three free throws with 50 seconds left to tie the score, and neither team could score in their final possessions of regulation.

In NBA history, teams that trail a series 3-1 have lost 95.6% of the time.

In Friday’s Game 3, Doncic had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the first playoff triple-double in Mavericks history, but Clippers coach Doc Rivers was proud of his team’s effort against the Mavs’ sensational second-year player.

“Luka still had a hell of a game,” he said. “He had a triple-double in the minutes that he played. But he had a hard triple-double. A very physical triple-double.”

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