Mavs finish off Clippers; Lakers fire coach

DALLAS – The Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers 114-101 to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs on Friday as Orlando forced a decisive Game 7 against Cleveland despite 50 points from Cavs star Donovan Mitchell.

The Magic dominated late on their home floor in Orlando to overcome a heroic performance from Mitchell, beating the Cavaliers 103-96 to knot their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series at three games apiece.

In Dallas, Luka Doncic scored 28 points and Kyrie Irving scored 30 – 28 in the second half – as the Mavericks locked up a 4-2 Western Conference victory over the Clippers, who were again without injured star Kawhi Leonard.

Doncic added seven rebounds and 13 assists to gain a measure of revenge against a Clippers team that ousted his Mavs in the first round in 2020 and 2021.

Dallas will next face the Oklahoma City Thunder, the surprise Western top seeds who swept New Orleans 4-0.

The series will offer a tantalizing matchup between Slovenian star Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, both Most Valuable Player award finalists along with Nikola Jokic – whose reigning champion Denver Nuggets face Minnesota in the second round.

“We stayed together,” Doncic said.

Meanwhile, Darvin Ham was fired as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers Friday, four days after the team was ousted from the NBA playoffs by Denver, the club announced.

Ham went 90-74 in two seasons guiding the Lakers, but the team was swept by eventual NBA champion Denver in last year’s Western Conference final and eliminated in five games in round one by the Nuggets this season.

“We greatly appreciate Darvin’s efforts on behalf of the Lakers and recognize the many accomplishments achieved over the past two seasons, including last year’s remarkable run to the Western Conference finals,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said.

In addition to who will be hired to guide the squad next, the Lakers face uncertainty over the future of superstar LeBron James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player who can opt out of his contract next season.