LOS ANGELES – If you would've told someone at the beginning of the year that the LA Clippers were facing elimination in the first round of the playoffs, many wouldn't have believed you. That, however, is where they stand after Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks ripped Game 5 from Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and company, 105-100.

The 22-year old Doncic finished with another 42 points, eight rebounds, and 14 assists. He took 37 shots to get there, but it was just enough to help Dallas win their third game in this series, all on the road. Paul George finished with a team-high 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds, six assists, and three blocked shots. It was Kawhi Leonard, however, who shot back down to earth in a big way, scoring 20 points and dishing out five assists but he did so on 7-of-19 shooting and also turned the ball over five times.

Despite the horrific 41 percent shooting from the field and the nine second-half turnovers, the Clippers still had their opportunities to win the game. Just like Game 2 of this series, however, they simply could not get over the hump.

Game 5's ‘hump' was a 16-point fourth quarter deficit after the Clippers allowed a 16-0 run to close out the third quarter. Turnover after turnover, missed shot after missed shot for LA and bucket after bucket for that Luka Doncic guy, who turned out to be pretty good. Within minutes, a 72-67 Clippers lead with Staples Center rocking and 4:49 remaining in the third quarter turned into an 89-75 Mavericks lead with fans left confused, angry, and speechless.

“PG committed his fourth foul and then, you know, when he came out of the game, we got to ask Kawhi to do a lot,” said head coach Tyronn Lue after the game. “I think Kawhi got a little tired and PG having four fouls early on in the third quarter really hurt us. And so we had some turnovers that led to easy baskets for those guys, and then we couldn't score the ball like we needed to.”

The Clippers fought all the way back to make it a one-point game with just under 40 seconds remaining, and even had a chance to re-take the lead on a Terrence Mann transition drive to the hoop. Mann, who just came up with a big steal on the defensive end, drove to the basket and passed up what appeared to be an open layup attempt to a diving Nicolas Batum for a much more difficult floater in traffic. The shot bounced off the lid of the rim and the Mavericks controlled it.

Two Tim Hardaway Jr. free throws with 8.8 remaining meant the Clippers needed a three-pointer. Kawhi Leonard caught a pass in the corner, turned, and threw up a very off-balance three-pointer.

“I turned, I felt him right behind me,” Leonard explained. “Tried to pump fake, then was just off-balance, pretty much. I was leaning back, end up shooting it. Gotta do a better job.”

Air ball. Game over. Mavs take Game 5.

Now, the attention turns to Game 6, where the Clippers will once again have to win a road game in order to keep their season's hopes alive.

“We're confident,” Paul George affirmed after the game. “You know, we're confident we can extend the series and bring this back home. We've got to go to Dallas, it's going to be another hard environment, another tough environment for us to go into. It's what we got to do. It's the job that we've got in front of us and we've got to tackle it.”

Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Clippers, Mavs
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The home team in this series is 0-5. It's the first time since 1995 that a road team won the first five games of a playoff series. Paul George believes the raucous Dallas crowd, which now has a 17,000-fan capacity, could play into the Clippers favor once again on Friday night.

“I think it actually helps. It's fun being in those environments, whether it's at home and fans are screaming for us or we are on the road and fans are screaming against us. I kind of tune that and take that in the same way. I still go out and try to be aggressive. Try to make plays. I think more so on the road, I try to be aggressive early, more aggressive early just to send a message and just have my teammates feel comfortable making plays and setups,” George said.

Kawhi Leonard, who averaged 33 points on 62.7 percent shooting in the first four games of the series, will look to bounce back from his worst game of the series. He'll have to if the Clippers are to force a Game 7 on Sunday night.

“I mean, just from the offense, we're definitely disappointed in the loss. But he we have confidence in ourselves, and you know, to go out and get another win. So like I said, just focus on the next one and going to see what we can do better,” Leonard said. “We just got to take it one game at a time right now. Try to win Game 6, and that's the mindset. See what we can do better from this game and just come out be ready to fight.”

In the three games the Mavs have won, all on the road, Luka Doncic is a combined 3-of-20 shooting in the fourth quarters for just seven points. This isn't just a one game sample. Doncic clearly expends so much energy through the first three quarters that he's left gassed in the final quarter. His scoring by quarter in Game 5 was 19 points in the first quarter, eight points in the second, 13 in the third quarter, and a whopping two points in the fourth (on 1-of-8 shooting).

While the Mavericks present a number of challenges due to their coaching, the Clippers' game-plan has never been more clear than it now: Defensively, make Doncic score and wear him out throughout the game. Offensively, keep attacking the paint, putting pressure on tone of the worst rim protecting teams in the league, and letting your inside-out offense flow from there.

If they don't, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George's second season together could come to a very disappointing end in Friday's Game 6.