Paul George and James Harden have gone two for two without Kawhi Leonard in the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-round playoff series against Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks.

The healthy Los Angeles stars can shrug off Game 4’s squandering 31-point lead.George and Harden each scored 33 points while playing critical fourth-quarter roles to help the Clippers stave off a massive rally spearheaded primarily by Irving for a 116-111 victory Sunday, tying the first-round series at 2-2.

“We knew they would make a run,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “But also, we didn’t think we’d come into this building and be up 31 points either. So I told our team, just get the win, however you’ve got to get it. In the playoffs, it don’t matter how you win.”

Leonard was out with right knee discomfort after missing the series opening but playing in both Dallas victories. The Clippers are unsure whether he will return for the third Western Conference first-round matchup between the two clubs in the last five seasons.The teams have split a pair of games on their respective home courts. Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday night in Los Angeles.Irving scored 40 points for Dallas, including an acrobatic layup with 2:15 left for a 105-104 lead, the Mavericks’ first since the middle of the first quarter.

Doncic’s fourth career postseason triple-double consisted of 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. all against the Clippers — while clearly struggling with right knee soreness that had him questionable until he warmed up before the game.

“He did everything he could,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought he competed on both ends. He put us in position to take the lead there in the fourth. We just came up short.”

George scored 26 points in the first half, when the Clippers’ lead grew to 55-24 after Harden hit a 3-pointer. The high-scoring players combined to shoot 11 of 16 from long range, and LA finished 18 of 29 overall.

After Irving’s game-winning layup, George scored his first point of the second half, a fadeaway three from the corner. Irving missed a layup, and Harden finished a three-point play to lead 110-105. The 10-time All-Star scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, including five of his signature floaters, which were mostly absent in the previous three games.

This is part of why the Clippers added Harden in an early-season trade, giving them another option with a star such as Leonard sidelined.

“I’m blessed to be able to change it up and be a facilitator or a scorer,” Harden said. “My mindset coming to this team was doing whatever it takes to win and get to the end goal. Whether that’s scoring or facilitating, I think it goes possession by possession and game by game.”

The Clippers tied a franchise playoff record for a quarter with eight 3s in the first, and George had three of them while scoring his playoff first-quarter high with 16 points to match the Mavericks and help build a 39-16 lead.

Harden’s 3 for the 31-point lead midway through the second quarter came not long after Doncic was called for a technical foul coming down the court when his miss dropped Dallas to 0-11 from long range..

It was almost a replay of Game 1, when the Leonard-less Clippers led by 26 at halftime and 29 early in the third quarter. Minus the massive rally, although Dallas did whittle the deficit in the second half of the opener.

“This is like Game 1,” Kidd said. “Early game, for whatever reason we just haven’t played well. We’ve gotten off to slow starts. That’s just something that we’ve got to talk about as a team. If there’s another afternoon game, we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go from the jump and we can’t wait.”

Irving hit the next two 3s for Dallas, and the rally was on. He scored 16 in the second quarter and kept it going in the third, finishing those two quarters with 26 after a scoreless first. Dallas trailed by four entering the fourth quarter.

“We dug ourselves in a hole,” Irving said. “There’s no time to complain about it or look to each other for any excuses. It was just time to get it going. Fell short, but this is a consistent thing in this series so far where Kawhi doesn’t play and we’re just dealing with a barrage of James Harden and Paul George getting off.”