The Dallas Mavericks managed to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 127-114 after another record night of Luka Doncic who scored 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Having scored 70 points in Game 1 and Game 2, the 21-year-old surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to record the most points in his first two playoff games since the NBA-ABA merger.

Doncic only played 28 minutes on the court because of foul trouble, but during such limited time on the court, the Clippers racked their brains trying to defend him. When Kawhi Leonard came to take on him 1-on-1, Doncic would call a screen to dodge him; when Paul George came to defend him, Doncic would use his strength advantage to break him from front; if the Clippers tried to trap him, Doncic would immediately find open teammates with his passing.

In the end, the Clippers had to have Marcus Morris follow Doncic since he caught the ball in the back court and forced him to pass the ball to others with early double teaming two or three steps from the arc. Remember, one of the best defensive teams went through so much trouble for a second-year kid from Europe.

Despite the Clippers' efforts, Doncic still almost put down 30+point triple-double. Compared with Game 1, in which he committed 11 turnovers (the whole team 22), Doncic was more careful with his passing and more determined when he drove towards the rim. In the end, Doncic only got one turnover (the whole team 11) and stepped onto the free throw line 12 times.

Besides Doncic's great performance, the Mavericks also saw remarkable contributions by other players. For example, Boban Marjanovic, 2.24 meters tall and weighing 132 kilograms, is quite a special player. His size made him both unstoppable in the paint in offense and too slow in defense. When the Clippers put 2.01-meter Montrezl Harrell on the court, Marjanovic released his full power as a "nuclear weapon" to get 10 points, eight rebounds in eight minutes in the first half, helping the Mavericks extend their lead to double digits.

Moreover, as mentioned before, Doncic fell into foul trouble in the game – he committed his fourth and fifth personal foul in less than one minute at the beginning of the third and fourth quarters, respectively. That should have been the best opportunity for the Clippers to catch up, but role players of the Mavericks stood out to stand against the opponents' counter-strike.

Seth Curry and Trey Burke together sank one triple but the two went 10-7 in the middle range – Burke was also 4-5 in the paint. Tim Hardaway Jr. went 5-11 in jump shots and made three triples. Including Doncic, the Mavericks did not have a player who could score steadily like Kawhi Leonard, but the team had enough players who could pass and shoot after dribbling. Such offense hit the Clippers where it hurt the most – no matter how they arrange defense, there would always be loopholes on the court.

"We've just got three left," said Doncic who was referring to the fact that they need another three wins to knock out the Clippers in the series. "I think we can fight with them. Any series we go in, we're going to believe we can win, for sure. If you don't believe it, you're not supposed to be here. You've got to believe it."

He was just trying to enhance the confidence for his teammates, but after watching what Doncic did in the two games, don't be so sure that he was not serious.

Philadelphia's 'process' failed

The Boston Celtics extended their lead of the series to 2-0 after a big win over the Philadelphia 76ers 128-101 on Wednesday. Jayson Tatum went 12-20 in field goals and 8-12 in 3-pointers to get 33 points. Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown also scored 22 and 20 points, respectively. Coach Brad Stevens sent in total 12 players to the court and 11 of them scored points.

On Philadelphia's side, Joel Embiid exerted himself to the utmost to put down 34 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. He was 7-11 under the rim and earned 13 free throws (made 12). Nonetheless, his efforts could not keep the game from becoming long gone in the third quarter.

Without Ben Simmons who left the bubble for surgery, Embiid got all the possessions he needed for posting up. Nonetheless, meanwhile, Philadelphia lost their only orchestrator, their best transition offense launcher and the best defender. No matter how unstoppable Embiid was in the paint, his playstyle limited his production, not to mention that Philadelphia's offense was nothing but predictable. In perimeter defense, Josh Richardson and Matisse Thybulle, no matter how good they are, had a painful understanding of being overwhelmed.

A few years ago, when Embiid came back from injury and impressed the league with his skills, he and the 76ers said they would "trust the process." In the following seasons, the team cashed in their draft picks and cap space into Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Al Horford and Josh Richardson. Now they are the only team that have four over 100-million-U.S.-dollar contracts, and two of those players, namely Harris and Horford, together scored 17 points, 13 rebounds and two assists.

Other games on Wednesday:

Brooklyn Nets 99-104 Toronto Raptors

Utah Jazz 124-105 Denver Nuggets