

For the first time in a decade, the Dallas Mavericks were able to secure a Game 1 playoff victory with an impressive 113-103 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on the road.
The underdog Mavs, led by young superstar Luka Doncic, won every single quarter in Saturday's contest and didn't play with one ounce of fear or nervousness. This series is far from being over, but it was nice to see the Mavs come out strong and set the tone early. With the Mavs playing extremely motivated, and the Clippers potentially battling previous postseason demons, Dallas could be playing with house money the rest of the way.
On this episode of Mavs Step Back LIVE, host Dalton Trigg is joined by a couple of return guests on the Locker Room app to discuss the Mavs' thrilling and encouraging Game 1 win over the Clippers. Doncic was fantastic, notching his third triple double in just seven career playoff games. Doncic in the only Maverick to ever put up a triple double in a playoff game. The guys talk about how his much-improved midrange game is going to be key to Dallas being able to complete the first round upset.
Doncic also got a lot of consistent help in this one from Dorian Finney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Brunson, who made his NBA Playoffs debut and made several clutch plays in the fourth quarter. Kristaps Porzingis didn't have a great game by his standards, but he closed the game out well and should be primed for a bounce-back performance in Game 2 on Tuesday night.
It makes us feel pretty good that the Mavs were able to steal Game 1 with KP not playing as well as he could have.
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