Luka Doncic sets NBA play-off record as Mavericks level series with Clippers

Luka Doncic dropped 28 points in as many minutes in his second NBA play-off appearance as the Dallas Mavericks levelled the series with an impressive 127-114 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

The 21-year-old’s haul followed a 42-point effort in game one earlier this week, pushing the Slovenian past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to set the record for the most points through a player’s first two play-off games.

After getting off to a slow start in the series opener, it was Dallas’ turn to burst out of the gates, with the Mavericks running out to a 15-2 early lead against the Western Conference’s second seed.

Despite some Kawhi Leonard brilliance bringing the Clippers back into the game, another strong run to close the third quarter gave Dallas enough breathing room to comfortably close out the 13-point victory and level the series at 1-1.

Also tied after two games is the series between the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets after the former notched up a 124-105 win.

Donovan Mitchell had 30 points on the night – all but nine coming in the third-quarter where the Jazz outscored their opponents 43-29.

Jayson Tatum hit 33 points as Boston Celtics recorded a 128-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers to go 2-0 up.

Joel Embiid scored 34 points in a losing effort for the 76ers but none of his team-mates managed 20.

Defending NBA champions the Toronto Raptors are also 2-0 up their series after they beat the Brooklyn Nets 104-99 on the back of 24-point hauls from Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell.