Dallas Mavericks 105-100 LA Clippers: Luka Doncic's magic show, Playoff Rondo goes missing; here are 5 talking points as Mavs take 3-2 lead | 2021 NBA Playoffs

The Dallas Mavericks fended off a late run by the LA Clippers to record a vital 105-100 win in Game 5 on Wednesday night. It was largely the Luka Doncic show that propelled Rick Carlisle's unit as they claimed their third straight victory at the Staples Center in this series.

Both LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks got their offense flowing early on, draining a bunch of three-pointers. It was largely a closely contested affair, but with the scorecard reading 67-62 in the hosts' favor, the Mavs called a timeout and then went on a 29-8 run.

Paul George and co. played catch-up after that and even had the chance to take the lead in the final moments of the game, but they couldn't finish the job. Without further ado, let's look at the five talking points from the Dallas Mavericks' win against the LA Clippers.

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#1 Paul George and Kawhi Leonard fail to finish the job for the LA Clippers

The dynamic duo struggled again down the stretch

Before you start shouts of 'Pandemic P', let's make it clear that Paul George was arguably the best player for the LA Clippers in this game. He gave the Dallas Mavericks trouble from downtown, was efficient from the field and played good defense. He finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

But George made too many bad plays down the stretch on the offensive end. The LA Clippers managed to restrict the Dallas Mavericks, but PG13's regular turnovers just took away several scoring opportunities from his side.

Wow. Is this the sequence that ends the Clippers season?Two critical turnovers by Paul George. Two big time 3-pointers by THJ and KP, providing Dallas offense outside of Luka.Are the Clips done? pic.twitter.com/92z2IbFOTp

— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) June 3, 2021

Kawhi Leonard struggled all night, though. He finished with 20-5-5, but shot just 7-of-19 from the field and air-balled the three-point attempt that would've taken the game into overtime. Leonard and George combined for nine out of the LA Clippers' 12 turnovers.

#2 Luka Doncic puts aside neck problems to lead the Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic celebrates with his teammates

Luka Doncic played Game 5 with a taped neck and left shoulder, but that wasn't going to stop him from torching the LA Clippers. The Slovenian was a walking bucket in the first quarter, racking up 19 points which included five treys. He scored 40 of his 42 points in the first three quarters.

🤯 42 and 14 for LUKA in Game 5 🤯@luka7doncic becomes the 2nd player in @NBAHistory with 40+ points and 14+ assists in an #NBAPlayoffs game!Game 6 - Fri, 9pm/et, ESPN pic.twitter.com/jtjdnk4doS

— NBA (@NBA) June 3, 2021

Ty Lue's men managed to slow him down in the fourth, but the damage had already been done. Even then, Doncic had little trouble facilitating the Dallas Mavericks' offense, as he dished out several dimes and finished with 14 assists. He also grabbed eight boards and had a team-high plus-minus of +15.

#3 Playoff Rondo forgets to show up for LA Clippers

Rajon Rondo

Rajon Rondo is known for flicking a switch in the playoffs, but he seemingly forgot to do so tonight against the Dallas Mavericks. Rondo was sharp with his playmaking as usual and racked up six assists, but he was a liability on the court for the LA Clippers in every other aspect.

Rondo wasn't sharp enough on defensive switches and found himself on the end of a size mismatch quite often. He almost blanked out in the scoring department and went 0-of-6 from the field. His solitary point tonight came from the charity stripe. Rondo finished with a game-low plus-minus rating of -19.

#4 Dorian Finney-Smith the unsung hero for the Dallas Mavericks

Dorian Finney-Smith (right) celebrates a play with Luka Doncic

Dorian Finney-Smith played terrific defense all night, but he absolutely clamped the LA Clippers' talismanic duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the clutch.

Finney-Smith troubled both players with his active hands as the hosts racked up turnover after turnover. His size also allowed him to provide help defense to his Dallas Mavericks teammates while boxing out opponents underneath the rim.

You could argue that Dorian Finney-Smith saved the day for the Dallas Mavericks. It was his length and physicality that forced Leonard to air-ball the potentially game-tying effort in the final seconds of the matchup. Finney-Smith finished with eight points, four rebounds and five steals.

#5 Could Patrick Beverley have given LA Clippers the needed edge?

Patrick Beverley

Patrick Beverley has only seen his playing time diminish over the course of the series. He came off the bench in the last two games and played just 11 seconds against the Dallas Mavericks tonight.

Terance Mann was the beneficiary of this move and made some good plays down the stretch. Reggie Jackson also had a decent 20-point game as the starting point guard. But you could argue that Beverley's doggedness on defense could've helped the LA Clippers contain some of the bleeding late in the third quarter.

Ty Lue deployed a small lineup for the majority of the matchup, with Nicolas Batum playing at the five. When backup center Ivica Zubac was struggling to protect the paint, Ty Lue could've reverted to a smaller lineup again and given some of Zubac's minutes to Beverley.

There's no guarantee that playing Patrick Beverley would've given the Dallas Mavericks too much trouble tonight, but it was certainly an option that Ty Lue chose not to use.

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