Dallas Mavericks: 3 things that went wrong in Game 5

2. Still no unicorn

Though the Mavs were able to come away with a Game four win against the Clippers without the unicorn, Kristaps Porzingis, they struggled without their star and came away with a victory mainly due to late game heroics from Doncic.

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle wants to ensure that if Porzingis is to come back in this series, provided it continues, that he’s healthy enough to play and not rushed.

"“He’s not able to play tonight [Tuesday],” Carlisle said. “To even attempt to play him would be the wrong thing. There’s a lot of things that we’re doing with him right now, trying to move it in a direction to see if he could be available for Game 6.”"

Dallas could very much use his services to improve their chances of garnishing a win and forcing a Game 7. In the series, through the three games he’s played, Porzingis is averaging 23.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game on 52.5 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Doncic and company were fortunate to come away with their Game 4 win without Porzingis but knew winning consecutive games against the Clippers would not come easy. In their case, it didn’t come at all.

Even if the Mavs do force a Game seven, history shows they don’t do too well in the scenarios. Dallas enters Game six trailing 3-2, with the Mavs 0-8 all-time in best-of-seven series when down 3-2. They’ve forced a Game seven twice when faced with such a deficit, doing so only on two occasions, once in the 1988 Western Conference Finals against the LA Lakers and in their 2014 first-round matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. That series with San Antonio was also the last time they trailed 3-2 in a best-of-seven playoff series. The Mavs are 17-20 (.459) all-time in elimination games.

Porzingis’ presence is very necessary for Game six if the Mavs hope to force Game seven.