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

[OkcSinceSGA]

Luka is definitely chubby again. It’s odd because Jokic is now going on like 2-3 years in a row of staying lean. Luka is barely 25. Why is he having trouble staying in shape?

I really can't understand it, especially during the curse of the season (being unfit just after coming back from holidays, I could understand it but not this). Playing such an amount of games in such sort time, I just can't understand how he can be that unfit even eating fast food every week (which I obviously highly doubt he does).

Does he really have such bad genetics?
If so then that's a crying shame as the guy obviously has GOAT potential basketball wise.

Yea it’s not good. And I remember two years ago his face was much slimmer. I was thinking yesterday his face looked very round.

[OkcSinceSGA]

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[Swish77]

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.

Please don't ever compare Luka to Dak. Luka has done a lot more then Dak ever dreamed about doing.

[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.

Please don't ever compare Luka to Dak. Luka has done a lot more then Dak ever dreamed about doing.

He was Dak in that first half. That wasn't Luka.

[Swish77]

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.

Please don't ever compare Luka to Dak. Luka has done a lot more then Dak ever dreamed about doing.

He was Dak in that first half. That wasn't Luka.

Luka's bad 1st half is still more then Dak has ever done.

[madmaxmedia]

The Mavericks will obviously play better but that C matchup is cooked. Say what you want about players going above their averages but Zubac should dominate both Gafford(East Center) and Lively(rookie). I hope Lue notices and doesn't commit to 5 out tendencies

In your world perhaps.
Other than some die hard Clippers/Zubac fans, absolutely no one expected him to dominate like that one of the most intimidating and impressive centers of the last few months (i'm talking about Gafford of course).
Zubac is a good player but if he was consistently that good, he would be picked in all NBA teams which is obviously not the case.
And I expect normal service to return in the next few games of that serie, at least in that centers matchup.

So I haven't watched Gafford and take you at your word, I know he's been good for you. But Zu literally didn't do anything special yesterday. He did the same limited range stuff he does all the time, just a lot more of it. Some of the shots were contested so probably he hit them at a higher than average rate, but he has nice touch from 3 feet away from the basket.

He's always basically the same player, mainly making his impact helping on the defensive end. If the Mavs deny him the ball better, he won't have as many shots and points. But if the Mavs were to allow him that many low post opportunities next game, yes he will get close to 20 again.

[PeteyPablo]

through out this season - James Harden has not needed to be a major scorer for the Clippers. His 16.6 pts and 8.5 assists have been fine because Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to take most of the scoring load. He has been more of a distributor.

But with Kawhi being out , it does not hurt to have a former

- NBA MVP
- 7 time All NBA
- NBA 6th man of the year
- NBA all rookie team
- Olympic gold medal

does not hurt to have this guy take on more of a scoring role. He can drive and drop off to Zubac , kick out to 3 point shooter or take it to the rim for a layup or floater.

[ChipotleWest]

Skip Bayless says Kawhi plans to play Game 2.

[Clemenza]

The Mavericks will obviously play better but that C matchup is cooked. Say what you want about players going above their averages but Zubac should dominate both Gafford(East Center) and Lively(rookie). I hope Lue notices and doesn't commit to 5 out tendencies

In your world perhaps.
Other than some die hard Clippers/Zubac fans, absolutely no one expected him to dominate like that one of the most intimidating and impressive centers of the last few months (i'm talking about Gafford of course).
Zubac is a good player but if he was consistently that good, he would be picked in all NBA teams which is obviously not the case.
And I expect normal service to return in the next few games of that serie, at least in that centers matchup.

So I haven't watched Gafford and take you at your word, I know he's been good for you. But Zu literally didn't do anything special yesterday. He did the same limited range stuff he does all the time, just a lot more of it. Some of the shots were contested so probably he hit them at a higher than average rate, but he has nice touch from 3 feet away from the basket.

He's always basically the same player, mainly making his impact helping on the defensive end. If the Mavs deny him the ball better, he won't have as many shots and points. But if the Mavs were to allow him that many low post opportunities next game, yes he will get close to 20 again.

Facts.. Zu doesn't even get that many plays called for him. I was shocked to see the Mighty Gafford get backed down like that so easily. Maybe he plays harder in game 2, but I was like, this can't be the guy they've been hyping up for a week and a half.

-On another note, Luka and Kyrie can go ahead and get their 30 points apiece, but no way is PJ Washington their 3rd best player right?

[Yuri36]

Luka is definitely chubby again. It’s odd because Jokic is now going on like 2-3 years in a row of staying lean. Luka is barely 25. Why is he having trouble staying in shape?

I really can't understand it, especially during the curse of the season (being unfit just after coming back from holidays, I could understand it but not this). Playing such an amount of games in such sort time, I just can't understand how he can be that unfit even eating fast food every week (which I obviously highly doubt he does).

Does he really have such bad genetics?
If so then that's a crying shame as the guy obviously has GOAT potential basketball wise.

Yea it’s not good. And I remember two years ago his face was much slimmer. I was thinking yesterday his face looked very round.

Yeah it's quite shocking.
He looked so much fitter during the bubble for example.

[Bergmaniac]

Gafford is an excellent help defender but not that good as a low post defender against skilled physical bigs like Zubac who are stronger and bigger than him.

[Shock Defeat]

When playoff intensity ramps up, all those free lobs that Dallas centers feasted on in the regular season go away. You actually need skill to score in the postseason most of the time, and now Dallas bigs are getting majorly exposed

[madmaxmedia]

Gafford is an excellent help defender but not that good as a low post defender against skilled physical bigs like Zubac who are stronger and bigger than him.

It did seem like Zu was able to back him down pretty well. If its a strength thing, then Dallas needs to send some help to force Zu to pick up his dribble and pass out. But being given 5 seconds to back a weaker center down and take 2 footers is not some amazing feat for Zu.

Zu is very good at the classic low-post center stuff at both ends of the floor. But he's not a great center in today's NBA because ranginess from 1 through 5 is a great attribute now.

[Dirk]

Gafford is an excellent help defender but not that good as a low post defender against skilled physical bigs like Zubac who are stronger and bigger than him.

It did seem like Zu was able to back him down pretty well. If its a strength thing, then Dallas needs to send some help to force Zu to pick up his dribble and pass out. But being given 5 seconds to back a weaker center down and take 2 footers is not some amazing feat for Zu.

Zu is very good at the classic low-post center stuff at both ends of the floor. But he's not a great center in today's NBA because ranginess from 1 through 5 is a great attribute now.

Zubac scored twice posting up Gafford. Early in the game. He missed another two attempts in the second half. He scored once on a post up on Maxi. He had some putbacks and a couple of good finishes beyond that. He is a load.

My memory is foggy, but in 2021, Zubac averaged 14.5 minutes per game against the Mavs in the series... while that was mainly because the Mavs played small, it's also because Luka put him on skates, which didn't really happen much yesterday. Hopefully Luka is more aggressive early and does a better job with him.

[madmaxmedia]

Gafford is an excellent help defender but not that good as a low post defender against skilled physical bigs like Zubac who are stronger and bigger than him.

It did seem like Zu was able to back him down pretty well. If its a strength thing, then Dallas needs to send some help to force Zu to pick up his dribble and pass out. But being given 5 seconds to back a weaker center down and take 2 footers is not some amazing feat for Zu.

Zu is very good at the classic low-post center stuff at both ends of the floor. But he's not a great center in today's NBA because ranginess from 1 through 5 is a great attribute now.

Zubac scored twice posting up Gafford. Early in the game. He missed another two attempts in the second half. He scored once on a post up on Maxi. He had some putbacks and a couple of good finishes beyond that. He is a load.

My memory is foggy, but in 2021, Zubac averaged 14.5 minutes per game against the Mavs in the series... while that was mainly because the Mavs played small, it's also because Luka put him on skates, which didn't really happen much yesterday. Hopefully Luka is more aggressive early and does a better job with him.

Yes- that's why Zu is only a pretty good center now. He cannot guard the perimeter, either Luka takes open 3's or drives right by him. Normally Zu is not high production, but his defense makes up for it. Dallas attacked him our last series, they should have done the same especially with Kawhi out. Obviously you also have Lue trying to game plan against this, so we'll see how it goes.

[spanishninja]

Skip Bayless says Kawhi plans to play Game 2.

now that Clips are virtually unlikely to face the Suns in the playoffs, I hope they boot the Mavs quick and with authority.

[pr0wler]

through out this season - James Harden has not needed to be a major scorer for the Clippers. His 16.6 pts and 8.5 assists have been fine because Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to take most of the scoring load. He has been more of a distributor.

But with Kawhi being out , it does not hurt to have a former

- NBA MVP
- 7 time All NBA
- NBA 6th man of the year
- NBA all rookie team
- Olympic gold medal

does not hurt to have this guy take on more of a scoring role. He can drive and drop off to Zubac , kick out to 3 point shooter or take it to the rim for a layup or floater.

Exactly, people act like he's washed but he's providing what the team needs, more of a Steve Nash role, not a 30+ PPG guy. But he has shown the ability to be a good #2 option if needed.

[dc]

If Mavs lose Game 2 they'll be in trouble, but as of right now it's 1 game in L.A. and not one team won on the road this weekend. They can steal Homecourt in Game 2.

Right now it's just the typical overreaction on realgm to 1 game. You'd think Harden is the GOAT and Luka is a bust reading some of these comments.

It's going to be a long/close series as it always has been between these.

Remember the last time, the Mavs took the first 2 games on the road and were up big at home in the 1st Q. It was looking very grim for the Clips, but they settled down, came back and won the game. That series was an anomaly in that the road team won every game until Game 7, when the Clips closed things out.

Really, anything can happen in a series between these 2 teams, but most likely it's going the distance.

[ejftw]

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.

As stated already with more minutes + Kawhi 's shots available should mean more than reg season averages.

Also PG isn't going 8-20 again. Norm isn't going to only put up 5 on 2-6 again

Harden and Zubac are not going to give you 48 points a game, period. And more importantly, the Mavs are not going to only get 30 points in a half, it was most Mavs players first playoff game and the second half we got 67. It was a fluke, good luck in game 2.

Yall are acting like that no matter the NBA player if they just get more shots they'll average 20 a game, that clearly isn't true. It's like you're trying to say Kawhi doesn't matter because the other players can just make up his shots for him, ridiculous it happened this one game it was a fluke. There's a reason that it takes a top 5 player almost every year to win an NBA Championship, because some players are better than others not sure why this needs to be explained to anyone.

And Powell isn't only going to only give you 5 points, period.

Also nice.job twisting everything, just be happy Kawhi isn't even 50%>

If Mavs lose Game 2 they'll be in trouble, but as of right now it's 1 game in L.A. and not one team won on the road this weekend. They can steal Homecourt in Game 2.

Right now it's just the typical overreaction on realgm to 1 game. You'd think Harden is the GOAT and Luka is a bust reading some of these comments.

I mean, these comments pre game one made it seem like Clips best case would be to steal one game or beat the Lakers for closest sweep

[BmanInBigD]

I don't care what numbers any of the Mavs ended up with, including Luka and Kyrie. They were so horrendous in the first half they made the Cowboys look good against the Packers last January. The stats they ended up with were just like Dak's, empty as a brothel during gold mining season. If they don't come with some more fire in Game 2, they're gonna be cooked and Kidd will be looking for a job. But I do think PART of the problem was how stale they were after shutting it down a few games ago. At least that's what I'm trying to tell myself...