2024 NBA Playoffs - West 1st Round: #4 Los Angeles Clippers vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (DAL leads 3-2)

[Statlanta]

I believe the Clippers are playoff tested and are facing a tough offseason if they get eliminated. The Mavericks especially their new additions(Washington/Gafford) are not playoff tested and most of these guys are likely to stay even if they get bounced in round one.

There is a sense of urgency in Los Angeles in that I don't see that rhythm for this series.

[lessthanjake]

People saying Luka played well should probably be cognizant of all the data on how teams play way worse when they’re ahead by a lot. Luka was bad in the first half, and the game was basically over halfway through the 3rd quarter when the Mavs hadn’t yet made a dent in the lead. Scoring 20 points in the last quarter and a half of a game you were losing by 25 with a quarter and a half left doesn’t mean someone played a good game. It was stat padding. Over the course of a regular season, we don’t care about this sort of thing much statistically, but in the context of one game we have to be able to recognize when stats were very clearly empty calories.

[KGtabake]

On the Mavs side of things, all they have to do is win game 2, and they immediately have HCA and the blowout loss in game 1 basically doesn’t matter any more.

For the Clippers, blowing out the Mavs without Kawhi and with Luka and Kyrie actually having good games is a huge confidence boost, and I don’t think anything they did is that unsustainable.

This was a terrible performance for Doncic.
Terrible on defense, frustrating offensively.
Kept the ball on his hands way too much, too many shots, inefficient. I don't know where did you see a good game by him tonight. Kyrie was good Indeed.

[Baz]

A championship seems pretty unattainable with Jason Kidd's abominable coaching holding the Mavs back. Long ways to go in this series, but the best result going forward might be the Clippers dismantling the Mavs so Cuban finally fires the man who had no business being hired in the first place.

[Yuri36]

Zubac is not repeating this performance.

+1

[ejftw]

If you would have told me this morning that the Clips would win despite:

Kyrie having a good, if not great outing.
Luka playing decent.
Kawhi being out.
PG being abysmal outside of a few minutes.
Dallas shooting 20 more free throws
Having committed five more turnovers.


I'd have laughed you off

[ChipotleWest]

If you would have told me this morning that the Clips would win despite:

Kyrie having a good, if not great outing.
Luka playing decent.
Kawhi being out.
PG being abysmal outside of a few minutes.
Dallas shooting 20 more free throws
Having committed five more turnovers.


I'd have laughed you off

You also got 28 from Harden, season average 16. You got 20 from Zubac, season average 11. If Harden/Zubac/PG are going to all 3 score 20+ every game with Mann and Westbrook adding 13 each which was both above their averages too you'll probably win the series even if Kawhi doesn't play, and if he does that's even more trouble for us.

The Mavs got exactly what I feared they'd get, 64 from Luka/Kyrie and only 29 from the rest of the entire team. We need to add a better 3rd scorer than Hardaway Jr. in the offseason.

I just chalk up the first half as a fluke, not to take credit from your team and the defense they played but we won't score 30 again in another half, and we played better in the second half. Game 2 will be a close game I think could go either way.

[SelfishPlayer]

The Clipper had a balanced inside outside attack. That will be difficult to defeat.

[og15]

Not just on defense, but also when he doesn't have the ball on offense.

He's a negative value player without the ball in his hands, which is why he's so ball dominant in the first place. Because he hurts you if he doesn't have it.

This is why defending the PnR the way they are makes so much sense. Put a really small guy on Luka before the PnR. Then, anticipate who the screener will be and put Lukas primary defender on the screener. So, the switch will always be to the best possible defender.

This forces Dallas to play Luka off-the-ball or turn into a 1-on-1 team with no PnR. Dallas has not shown any competency in using Luka well off the ball.

The best move for Dallas would be to put Luka in the post and force double teams from there... but I bet Luka and Kidd will be resistant to that idea... they definitely won't stick to it every time down the court, like they should.

The Clippers present a lot of problems because they have 2-3 guys that can guard 1-5 at a very high level.

Pre-switching, Denver also previously implemented that with Jokic to keep him out of bad matchups. I mentioned this in the Clippers forum as one of the strategies the Clippers would need to employ.

I expected that the Clippers coaching staff would be smarter than me and realize that this is a needed strategy in a matchup like this to keep Zubac safely on the floor.

[Dirk]

How do you not challenge this.

[hagredionis]

If going 33/13/6 and +3 plus/minus is considered a horrible game then it means he's the GOAT and people have incredible expectations.

[ChipotleWest]

Clippers got wins at the end of the season over Phoenix, Cleveland and Denver without Kawhi. They can't win it all without Kawhi but they're still a really good team without him.

Having said that there's just no way Dallas scores 30 in a half again. I like our chances for Game 2. If we can win that game we steal homecourt and this game doesn't matter much.

[drekwins]

This is why defending the PnR the way they are makes so much sense. Put a really small guy on Luka before the PnR. Then, anticipate who the screener will be and put Lukas primary defender on the screener. So, the switch will always be to the best possible defender.

This forces Dallas to play Luka off-the-ball or turn into a 1-on-1 team with no PnR. Dallas has not shown any competency in using Luka well off the ball.

The best move for Dallas would be to put Luka in the post and force double teams from there... but I bet Luka and Kidd will be resistant to that idea... they definitely won't stick to it every time down the court, like they should.

The Clippers present a lot of problems because they have 2-3 guys that can guard 1-5 at a very high level.

Pre-switching, Denver also previously implemented that with Jokic to keep him out of bad matchups. I mentioned this in the Clippers forum as one of the strategies the Clippers would need to employ.

I expected that the Clippers coaching staff would be smarter than me and realize that this is a needed strategy in a matchup like this to keep Zubac safely on the floor.

It completely fooled Mazzulla last year. Miami also threw a little 1-2-2, 2-1-2 and 2-2-1 actions at Boston last year, as well. The key in any of these scenarios, from an offensive standpoint, is to use your main player off-the-ball. Some stars with insane usage really struggle with that though. The entire team needs to be on the same page because it requires coordination and 2-3 passes to get it to your main player in an advantageous spot. So much of the NBA is used to P-n-R and 1-2 brain dead passes as their total offense. It's amazing at how much some teams/coaches struggle to adjust.

[OkcSinceSGA]

How do you not challenge this.

I mean they may make the wrong call anyway, like the clearly clean verticality challenge by PG that was upheld.

[ChipotleWest]

How do you not challenge this.

I mean they may make the wrong call anyway, like the clearly clean verticality challenge by PG that was upheld.

It doesn't matter that is a textbook reason they have the challenges. At least do your job and challenge it then it's out of your hands. But if you do nothing and don't challenge it the blame falls on you. Kidd did nothing.

I'm not sure it would have made any difference in the outcome but it just goes to show he's not a good coach. I hope he's replaced but I doubt it. This is not some overreaction I've wanted him gone since the day he was hired. They should have hired Jamahl Mosley he was right there and him and Luka had a good relationship but they let him go to Orlando so they could hire this goof. Typical bad owner Cuban.

[og15]

This is why defending the PnR the way they are makes so much sense. Put a really small guy on Luka before the PnR. Then, anticipate who the screener will be and put Lukas primary defender on the screener. So, the switch will always be to the best possible defender.

This forces Dallas to play Luka off-the-ball or turn into a 1-on-1 team with no PnR. Dallas has not shown any competency in using Luka well off the ball.

The best move for Dallas would be to put Luka in the post and force double teams from there... but I bet Luka and Kidd will be resistant to that idea... they definitely won't stick to it every time down the court, like they should.

The Clippers present a lot of problems because they have 2-3 guys that can guard 1-5 at a very high level.

Pre-switching, Denver also previously implemented that with Jokic to keep him out of bad matchups. I mentioned this in the Clippers forum as one of the strategies the Clippers would need to employ.

I expected that the Clippers coaching staff would be smarter than me and realize that this is a needed strategy in a matchup like this to keep Zubac safely on the floor.

It completely fooled Mazzulla last year. Miami also threw a little 1-2-2, 2-1-2 and 2-2-1 actions at Boston last year, as well. The key in any of these scenarios, from an offensive standpoint, is to use your main player off-the-ball. Some stars with insane usage really struggle with that though. The entire team needs to be on the same page because it requires coordination and 2-3 passes to get it to your main player in an advantageous spot. So much of the NBA is used to P-n-R and 1-2 brain dead passes as their total offense. It's amazing at how much some teams/coaches struggle to adjust.

Yup, there are counters to it, so it is up to the Mavs to adjust, but it also does require the offense making good reads. We'll see if they do a good job countering and forcing the matchups that they want.

How do you not challenge this.

I mean they may make the wrong call anyway, like the clearly clean verticality challenge by PG that was upheld.

Hey look at this sighting. I think with this one they would definitely get it right, a little bit easier of a call than verticality, actually a lot easier.

If going 33/13/6 and +3 plus/minus is considered a horrible game then it means he's the GOAT and people have incredible expectations.

I don't know if there a lot of people calling it a horrible game, though of course not the best game for him from the field with 42% FG and 33% 3PT. Of course as the Clippers you understand that he will make more shots in other games, and you will live with that reality.

[mademan]

If going 33/13/6 and +3 plus/minus is considered a horrible game then it means he's the GOAT and people have incredible expectations.

I mean letting your team get down 30 before you start doing anything is pretty bad. Sometimes numbers dont tell you the whole story. This was a bad game by Luka and as a guy who's in competition for MVP and has people calling him the 2nd best player in the league, he's gotta be better.

[ChipotleWest]

Luka had a Dak-like performance in the playoffs. Was bad in the first half and his team was blown out then he showed up when it was too late. Luckily in basketball you get more than one game in a series.

[Alatan]

Zubac is not repeating this performance.

+1

Zubac improved tremendously. He might actually be the Clippers 3rd best player.

[ChipotleWest]

Zubac is not repeating this performance.

+1

Zubac improved tremendously. He might actually be the Clippers 3rd best player.

He averaged 11 on the season, he scored 20 today.

Harden was 12 over his average, Zubac 9 over his average, Mann 5 over his average, Westbrook 2 over his average. Add those together that's 28 extra points probably makes up for not having Kawhi. I do not believe they can do that at least 4 times. They'll still need Kawhi to win the series.