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Wednesday's NBA playoffs takeaways: Celtics advance, Mavericks coast

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By Jared Weiss, Jay King, Will Guillory, Law Murray and Tim Cato

The Dallas Mavericks coasted to a dominant 123-93 victory over the LA Clippers to move within one win away from a first-round series win.

Luka Dončić put together his best game of the 2024 postseason thus far, tallying 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Five other Mavericks chipped in double-digit point totals, including three reserves.

Should the Clippers fall in Game 6, Wednesday night will have marked the franchise's final game at Crypto.com Arena.

Mavericks 123, Clippers 93

Series: Mavericks lead 3-2

Game 6: Friday in Dallas

Dončić's best game yet

At the morning shootaround before the Mavericks' Game 5 win, Dončić said he "probably" wouldn't be playing due to a knee sprain. He had suffered it early in Game 3, but he had been below his lofty standards for all four. The brilliance just wasn't quite as sustained or consistent as it typically is.

And then Dončić had his best game of this series, a 35-point showing in which he added 10 assists and seven rebounds. He was decisive and physical, getting into the paint with his size and the assured confidence he's always had in his career. And when Dončić ascends, so do his teammates around him.

Dallas' suffocating defense was present again in Wednesday's dominant win: The Clippers shot just 14 of 35 at the rim, completely unable to create shots near the rim. But Los Angeles was even colder from behind the arc, following up Game 4's sizzling showing with a dismal 6-of-30 performance before Tyronn Lue pulled his starters Wednesday.

What turned it into a second half blowout was Dončić's offense and enough role players joining him, particularly Maxi Kleber's 5-of-7 shooting display from deep and 12 points from Derrick Jones Jr. It was a dominant show of the team that Dallas believes it can be, and one more showing like this will have Dallas moving onto the next round. — Tim Cato, Mavericks beat writer

Welcome to the (Luka) Magic show 🔮🎩 pic.twitter.com/0YP3IZtKXq

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) May 2, 2024

Clippers foiled by poor shooting

Shooting has been a major part of the Clippers being able to beat the Mavericks without Kawhi Leonard available. They made 18 3s each in Game 1 and Game 4. They made 18 3s combined in Games 2 and 3.

Making shots allows you to do two things. It helps you score obviously, but it also keeps you locked in defensively. Missed shots can mess with a player mentally, and the defense required to stay in a game may not stay together the longer the poor offense continues.

The Clippers struggled with their outside shooting all game, missing 7 of 10 shots outside the paint in the first quarter. But they were still attached to the Mavericks, only trailing 25-24.

But the defense started breaking in the second quarter, even while the Mavericks also missed shots. Kleber got multiple corner 3s to go as part of a 12-point second quarter. He made 4 of 6 3s in the period. Kleber's teammates missed all six attempts; Dončić and Kyrie Irving were 0-for-8 from 3 at halftime. But the Clippers missed all seven 3-point attempts in the second quarter and were 3 of 15 from 3 at halftime, while missing their only two non-paint 2-point attempts.

The Mavericks led 56-46 at halftime, but the Clippers continued to fail to find the range in the third quarter missing 7 of 10 3s. Their time expired in that period, with the Mavericks hitting 4 of 9 3s. And the trend continued through the end of the game, as the Clippers made only 9 of 35 3s, a 25.7 percent clip and right on their established average in their losses in the series.

The tough part for the Clippers is that the Mavericks stars weren't that much better. Dončić and Irving made only 3 of 15 3s, the halftime totals for the Clippers. But Doncic and Irving's teammates made 12 of 25 3s (48 percent).

Not shooting the ball well is one thing for the Clippers, but this was a blowout because they stopped defending as the game went on and the misses piled up. — Law Murray, Clippers beat writer

(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)

Celtics 118, Heat 84

Series: Celtics advance (4-1)

Celtics find success in first game without Kristaps Porziņģis

The Celtics cruised past Miami with ease to win the series in five games, so there wasn't a clear indication about how the big man rotation will work in the second round with Kristaps Porziņģis likely missing time.

"I'm not sure," Joe Mazzulla said when asked for a timetable. "We're just gonna give it a week, kind of see where he's at, kind of see how he responds to the treatment over the next week."

Al Horford only had to play 23 minutes while Luke Kornet played for 18, but Horford never had to come back in for the fourth quarter. Will the Celtics play Kornet deep into the fourth quarter in the next round so Horford can come in for a shorter crunch time stint? Will they mix in some Xavier Tillman to ease the minutes burden on Horford?

Jarrett Allen missed Game 5 for Cleveland with a rib injury, so his absence would affect Boston's reliance on a center throughout the game if Cleveland advances. Orlando has size and power across the board, so will Boston use Tillman instead of Kornet? The Celtics showed in this series against Miami that they can respond well to adversity. But their next opponent will have a clear advantage in the front court and will likely give the Celtics a more serious test. — Jared Weiss, Celtics beat writer

Celtics showed much-needed urgency

In recent years, the Celtics have played long series' almost exclusively. Not in the first round. They showed urgency in Game 5 to take care of business, eliminate Miami and give themselves an extra couple days of rest. Boston took away any suspense in the first half while building a 30-point lead, then never let Miami get close in the second half. In the deciding game of the series, Jayson Tatum only needed to play 32 minutes and Jaylen Brown only needed to play 26. The Celtics closed the game with a bench lineup of Svi Mykhailiuk, Oshae Brissett, Tillman, Jaden Springer and Payton Pritchard.

Against an 8-seed missing three starters in Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr., the Celtics did what they were supposed to do. After dropping Game 2 of the series, they lifted their intensity and shut down the Heat offense over the next three games. Miami only made three 3-pointers in Game 5 while failing to produce any type of consistent scoring.

The Celtics will face stiffer competition in the later rounds. For at least the start of the second round, they will be without Porziņģis. But they were dominant without him throughout the regular season and again looked great without him in Game 5. By capitalizing on their first chance to close out the series, they made their playoff path a bit easier and kept additional miles off their legs. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer

Where does Miami go from here?

The Heat's season came to a gruesome end tonight and now they prepare for another summer filled with questions about how they can fortify this roster and get back to being a championship contender.

Once Butler went down with a knee injury in Miami's Play-In Tournament loss to Philadelphia, the chances of putting any pressure on Boston in this series was slim to none. But this is two straight seasons the Heat have entered the postseason as a No. 8 seed.

There were already efforts to pursue Damian Lillard last offseason after making a trip to the NBA Finals. And after going down in such an ugly way this season, Miami will almost certainly be back in the market looking for another star who can provide more juice to an offense that's been below average each of the last two seasons.

Then, there are also the questions about Butler as he heads into the final season of his current contract. Miami will have a chance to sign him to an extension before the start of next season. But if the two sides don't come to an agreement, would Miami consider a future without Butler? Would Butler try to push his way out?

There will be some tough decisions for Miami to make. Does the front office commit to this current version of the team even more or does it start exploring ways to rebuild? Bam Adebayo's presence makes the future look a little less shaky. But he needs more contributors around him who can be a part of the future and help him find a path back to the top of the East. — Will Guillory, NBA writer

Thursday's schedule:

Required reading

(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)

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