The Los Angeles Clippers were in relief ahead of game 5 at the Crypto.com arena. Reports revealed that Dallas Maverick guard Luka Doncic will be playing through sickness and a sprained right knee. That put a smile on the faces of the Clippers fans, but Doncic decided to produce another version of the ‘Flu Game‘ today. While many did not see this coming, former Boston Celtics veteran Kendrick Perkins warned the fans well ahead of the game. 

Perkins wrote on Twitter, an hour before the game, “Y’all can get fooled by that Luka is sick and not feeling well BS. That man about to try and go at the Clippers neck tonight“. Just like the 2008 champion predicted, Doncic decided to pop off, to steal the Clippers’ home-court advantage with a 123-93 win.

Despite all the hindrances, Doncic went on to drop 35 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds, which has now given the Dallas Mavericks a 3-2 lead in the series. He shot 14/26 from the field and gave the Mavs a huge lead in the third quarter, which the LA unit couldn’t catch up. The Clippers might have been fooled by the reports on Doncic’s sickness, but Perkins did not.  

At the same time, this does not mean Doncic was faking a sickness. He faced a lot of difficulties before the game, but playoff adrenaline helped him overcome that. He spoke about it in the postgame interview. 

Luka Doncic gets real about the troubles he faced before and during game 5 

Doncic’s entire right knee was strapped to make sure he didn’t give a lot of movement. Anyhow, he was quick enough to put his defenders to sleep. After the game, Doncic was questioned about his illness, and he replied, “I’m not gonna lie, trying not to think of the injury or the cold, just trying to go out there and set the tone…There’s a lot of adrenaline, there’s a lot of emotions, so you just keep going.“

When asked about how the cold affected his game, he said it was pretty “tough” to breathe, as his nose was completely blocked. He also shared that he had to blow his nose every time. However, his focus was only on the big game today. But, he revealed that his knees got a “little bit worse“. The Mavs will head back home for game 6, which is on Friday. The adrenaline came in handy today. The Slovenian guard is just one win away from entering the Western Conference Semi-Finals. He is looking forward to some rest, to get back in form for game 6. Let’s wait and watch if Doncic can get it done on Friday. 

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