Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving carry Mavs past Clippers 114-101 to advance to second round

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic struggled with his shot again thanks to his ailing right knee, and Kyrie Irving spent a bunch of energy playing defense.

Through all that, the co-stars of the Mavericks tag-teamed for a second-half surge that sent Dallas to the second round in their first postseason together.

Doncic had 28 points and 13 assists, Irving scored 28 of his 30 points after halftime and the Mavericks finished off the Los Angeles Clippers with a 114-101 victory Friday night.

With Irving alongside him this time, Doncic did what the Slovenian superstar couldn't three years earlier — close out the Clippers in Dallas in Game 6 of a first-round playoff series.

The fifth-seeded Mavericks beat the Clippers for the the first time in three first-round tries over the past five seasons and will open the Western Conference semifinals at the top seed, Oklahoma City, on Tuesday night.

“We’re pushing each other off the court to be better, and then when we get on the court it’s just like synchronicity,” Irving said. “It feels good.”

Paul George had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who won the first two times they played without Kawhi Leonard in the series but didn't have enough scoring punch in the last two he was sidelined by right knee inflammation.

James Harden had 16 points and 13 assists but was just 5 of 16 from the field and missed all six of his 3-pointers as LA was eliminated in the first round for the second consecutive season despite the early-season trade for the 10-time All-Star.

“A lot of emotions and things going through my mind right now,” Harden said.

Irving, added at the trade deadline last year for the kind of playoff run the Mavs hope they just started, spent plenty of time guarding Harden in the first half, when he had two points on just six shots.

The eight-time All-Star opened the second half with a layup to break a 52-52 tie, then Doncic hit a 3-pointer after going 0-for-7 from deep in the first half. Following an LA turnover, Irving hit a 3 for an eight-point lead after Dallas had lost a 13-point advantage in the second quarter.

The Mavs outscored the Clippers 35-20 in the third quarter — the same quarter that fueled the Game 5 win in Los Angeles for a chance to clinch — and pushed the lead to 20 early in the fourth.

Irving gave Dallas its biggest lead with a flashy four-point play when he hit a leaning 3-pointer as he was bumped by P.J. Tucker and made the free throw for a 106-82 lead.

The Clippers answered with an 11-2 run to get within 13 but never seriously threatened a big comeback in the final minutes after George, Harden and Ivica Zubac each played at least 22 minutes in the first half to get LA back in the game.

“It caught up with us, and you saw that in the third quarter and into the fourth,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “We just ran out of gas.”

Doncic, who also has dealt with illness in addition to a sore knee, was 9 of 26 from the field and just 1 of 10 from 3 while going 9 of 11 on free throws. Irving was 10 of 13 from the field after halftime.

“Terrible, man. I need some rest,” Doncic said before walking away from a TV interview — and into a three-day break.

Now Doncic will try at least to match his long playoff run of two years ago, when Dallas stunned Phoenix with a Game 7 blowout in the West semis before falling to eventual champ Golden State in five games in the West finals.

Norman Powell scored 20 points for the Clippers, and Zubac had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

P.J. Washington scored 14 points with some big 3-pointers for the Mavs, going 4 of 8 from deep, and Daniel Gafford had 13 points with several emphatic buckets down low.

“They’re very important when you look at the culture of our team,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd about the Mavs' pair of trade-deadline acquisitions. “Our defense changed when they got here. They’re not going to complain. You don’t have to run a play for them.”

Dallas' Maxi Kleber didn't return after spraining his right shoulder when he took a hard fall on a blocking foul against Amir Coffey on a drive in the first minute of the second quarter.

Kleber, whose 3-point shooting was a boost for Dallas in the series, returned to shoot free throws, making one of two before leaving at the next dead ball.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Dallas Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber (42) crashes to the floor after being upended in front of Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) and guard Amir Coffey during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, May 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) drives against Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, May 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) drives against Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, May 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

Dallas Mavericks guard Josh Green (8) slam dunks an alley oop from Mavericks' guard Luka Doncic, not pictured, over Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) as Clippers' center Ivica Zubac (40) and Mavericks' center Dereck Lively II (2) look on during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, May 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) talk with head coach Jason Kidd, left, during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A 20-minute drive separates the historic Maracana Stadium from the Complexo do Alemao, one of Rio de Janeiro's most impoverished and violent favelas.

One of its residents, 15-year-old soccer player Kaylane Alves dos Santos, hopes her powerful shots and impressive dribbles will allow her to cover that short distance from slum to stadium in three years to play for Brazil's national team in the final of the 2027 Women's World Cup.

That chance, once remote, became more realistic on Friday when FIFA members voted to make Brazil the first Latin American country to host the Women's World Cup.

Local organizers have suggested that both the opening match and the final are likely to be played at the 78,000-seat Maracana Stadium that staged the final matches of the 1950 and the 2014 men's soccer World Cups.

Teenager dos Santos knows the hurdles for her to ever play for Brazil remain enormous — in 2027 or later. She doesn't have a professional club to play for, she only trains twice a week, and her nutrition is not the best due to limited food choices in the favela.

Most importantly, she often can't leave home to play when police and drug dealers shoot at each other in Complexo do Alemao.

Still, she is excited and hopeful about Brazil hosting the Women's World Cup, resulting in a big boost to her confidence.

“We have a dream (of playing for Brazil in the Women’s World Cup), and if we have that chance it will be the best thing in the world,” dos Santos told The Associated Press this week after a training session in the Complexo do Alemao.

She and about 70 other young women in the Bola de Ouro project train on an artificial grass pitch in a safe region of the 3-square kilometers long (1.15 square mile) community.

If not on the pitch, Dos Santos and her teammates will be happy enough just to attend games of a tournament they could only dream of watching up close until FIFA members voted for Brazil over the Germany-Netherlands-Belgium joint bid. The Women's World Cup was played for the first time in 1991 and will have its 10th edition in 2027.

A five-time champion in men's soccer, more than any other country, Brazil has yet to win its first Women's World Cup trophy. By then, it is unlikely superstar Marta, aged 38, will be in the roster. Dos Santos and thousands of young female footballers who have overcome sexism to take up the sport are keen to get inspiration from the six-time FIFA player of the year award winner and write their own history on home soil.

As many female footballers experience in Brazil, dos Santos and her teenage teammates rarely play without boys on their teams. Until recently, they also had to share the pitch with five-year-old girls, which didn't allow the older players to train as hard as they would like.

“(The Women's World Cup in Brazil) makes us focus even more in trying to get better. We need to be able to play in this,” said 16-year-old Kamilly Alves dos Santos, Kaylane's sister and also a player on the team. “We need to keep training, sharing our things."

Their team, which has already faced academy sides of big local clubs like Botafogo, is trained by two city activists who once tried to become players themselves.

Diogo Chaves, 38, and Webert Machado, 37, work hard to get some of their players to the Women's World Cup in Brazil, but if that's not possible they will be happy by keeping them in school.

Their non-profit group is funded solely by donations.

“At first, basically, the children wanted to eat. But now we have all of this,” said Chaves, adding that the project began three years ago. “We believe they can get to the national team. But our biggest challenge is opportunity. There's little for children from here, not only for the girls.”

Machado said the two coaches “are not here to fool anyone” and do not believe all the young women they train will become professionals.

“What we want from them is for they to be honest people, we all need to have our character,” Machado said. “We want to play and make them become nurses, doctors, firefighters, some profession in the future."

The two dos Santos sisters, as do many of their teammates, believe that reaching the Women's World Cup as Complexo do Alemao residents is possible. Brazil has more than 100 professional women's soccer teams, with other players living in favelas, too.

But it won't be easy.

“Sometimes I have to cancel appointments because of shootings, because there’s barricades on fire,” she said. “Sometimes police tell us to go back home, they say we can’t come down and point their guns to me, to my mother,” said Kamilly.

Her sister hopes the pair will overcome the violence, against the odds.

“I want to earn my living in soccer, fulfill all dreams," Kaylane says. "And I want to leave the Complexo do Alemao. I want to make it happen.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

An overhead view of the pitch where young women take part in a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Agatha smiles during a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Agatha strikes a ball during a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Young women ready breakfast for fellow participants as part of a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Relatives watch a soccer training session for young women run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Young women and their coach Dioguinho bring it in for a team huddle at the start of a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)