Tune-In Tidbits: ESPN Friday, June 4, 2021

Luka Doncic scored or assisted on 31 of Dallas’ 37 field goals in the Mavericks’ 105-100 Game 5 win.

Game 6: Clippers at Mavericks
9 p.m. ET, ESPN | Mavericks lead 3-2

• This Mavericks-Clippers series is only the third NBA playoff series where the road team has won the first five games (excluding the bubble playoffs last year when teams played at a neutral site). It first happened in 1984 in a first round series between the Nets and Sixers as the road team won every game of the five-game series. It last happened in 1995 in the Western Conference finals between the Spurs and Rockets. In that case, Houston broke through in Game 6 to clinch the series at home. Can the Mavericks follow that same script 26 years later and clinch the series in Dallas?

• After scoring only 19 points in Dallas’ Game 4 loss, Doncic responded by scoring 19 points in the first quarter of Game 5. He finished with 42 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds in 43 minutes. The only other player to have at least 42 points and 14 assists in a playoff game since 1984 is LeBron James (May 3, 2018, Cleveland at Toronto). Doncic scored or assisted on 31 of Dallas’ 37 made field goals (83.8%); that is the highest percentage in an NBA game in league history – regular season or playoffs – according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

• Luka Doncic leads all playoff scorers at 35.0 points per game in the first round. He is shooting 47.9% from the field and 42.9% from both 3-point range and the free throw line. During the regular season, Doncic was a 73.0% free throw shooter but has made only 15 in 35 attempts in this series.

• The Mavericks have won all three games that have featured clutch time – scoring inside five points in the final five minutes of fourth quarter or overtime. In nine total minutes of clutch time, the Mavs have outscored the Clippers by 22 points. Dallas has shot 7-16 (43.8%) from the field, 4-7 from 3-point range (57.1%) and 9-9 from the foul line, while LA has shot 2-11 (18.2%) from the field, 0-6 from 3-point range and 1-3 from the free throw line.

• The Clippers have generated more wide-open shots – closest defender at least six feet away – during this series (17.0 to 15.2 for the Mavericks). However, Dallas has a 10 percentage point advantage in effective field goal percentage on those wide open looks (67.1% to LA’s 57.1%).