At the beginning of the 2020 NBA Playoffs in the Orlando bubble, all the talk was about the outstanding performances from Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. A week ago, Mitchell had 57 points in a game (third most by a player in one game in NBA playoff history), while Doncic had 42 points, the most ever by a player in his first NBA playoff game.
What was the difference between a week ago and Sunday is interesting. Once again Mitchell and Doncic were the talk of the NBA. However this time they came away with magnificent playoff performances in victories for the respective teams.
In the 135-133 overtime win by the Mavericks over the Clippers on Sunday, the Mavericks came back from a 21 point deficit as they were trailing the Clippers 54-33 in the second quarter. But the Mavericks had an outstanding third quarter where they outscored the Clippers 35-19, before the Clippers outscored the Mavericks 36-28 in the final quarter to force the extra period. In overtime, despite an injured ankle, Doncic came through with a game-winning three-point buzzer beater on a three-point shot from 27 feet. The Slovenian superstar ended the game with a sensational triple double (43 points, 17 rebounds, and 13 assists), and became the youngest player in NBA history to record a playoff buzzer-beater at 21 years and 177 days old. With the win, the Mavericks and Clippers are tied at two games apiece.
Meanwhile, Mitchell added to his 2020 postseason glory. He scored 51 points as the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 129-127 to take a three games to one series lead. Mitchell becomes the third player in NBA history to have two 50-point performances in his first 20 NBA postseason games. The others were Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. In another interesting statistic, Mitchell and Jamal Murray of the Nuggets become the first players on opposing teams to score 45 points in a playoff game. Murray had 50 points in the two-point Denver loss.
