.............................................................................................. Series Schedule .............................................................................................. Game 1: Monday, Aug. 17 at 8:00 p.m. CT (ESPN broadcast) Game 2: Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 8:00 p.m. CT (TNT broadcast) Game 3: Friday, Aug. 21 at 8:00 p.m. CT (TNT broadcast) Game 4: Sunday, Aug. 23 at 2:30 p.m. CT (ABC broadcast) Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday, Aug. 25 at TBD (broadcast TBD) Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, Aug. 27 at TBD (ESPN broadcast) Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, Aug 29 at TBD (TNT broadcast) .............................................................................................. Mavs-Clippers regular-season matchups .............................................................................................. Nov. 26, 2019: Clippers 114, Mavericks 99 Jan. 21, 2020: Clippers 110, Mavericks 107 Aug. 6, 2020: Clippers 126, Mavericks 111
.............................................................................................. Preview, by Dallas News ..............................................................................................
Spoiler:
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Mavericks-Clippers, it is.
The first-round playoff series that many Mavericks fans have anticipated, and probably dreaded, became reality Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Clippers clinched the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed with a 124-111 victory over third-place Denver.
The Mavericks-Clippers series will start next Monday. It will be the first playoff meeting between the 50-year-old Clippers and 40-year-old Mavericks franchises.
The Clippers of course are led by their prize acquisitions of last summer: Two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, 29; and 6-time NBA All-Star Paul George, 30.
The Mavericks’ marquee duo of Luka Doncic, 21, and Kristaps Porzingis, 25, will be making their playoff debuts, and this is the Dallas franchise’s first playoff berth since 2016.
“They’re terrific,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday night of the Mavericks. “Best offensive team in history, right? And they have one of the young stars. They’re a two-star team now, I mean Porzingis is playing great. I look at that and that’s a tough matchup in the first round. That’s what it is.”
The teams have met three times this season, most recently here in the bubble on Aug. 6, will the Clippers pulling away from a 101-101 tie in the final seven minutes for a 126-111 victory.
“Luka’s going to be a handful,” Clippers guard Lou Williams said Wednesday night. “Dallas plays extremely hard. Just saw these guys last week. A well-coached team. They’re all going to be on one accord. They’re going to play hard. For us we’ve got to be on the same accord, but I feel really good about that matchup.
“It’ll be highly entertaining, a lot of talented guys on the floor. I think the team that plays the hardest is going to win that series.”
That was the fourth straight Clippers win over Dallas and fifth in the last six meetings. This season’s other two meetings occurred before the four-month coronavirus-caused hiatus, and both games were in Dallas. The Clippers won 114-99 on Nov. 26 and 110-107 on Jan. 21.
“We’ve always got chances,” Doncic said after last week’s loss to the Clippers, when asked about the potential of meeting them in the playoffs. “They’re a great team, but we’ve always got chances, no matter what.
“Some people will count us out, but we’re not out. I think we have chances, so we’ll give our max.”
The Mavericks lead the overall series, 93-66, but the Clippers have won 21 of the 31 meetings since the start of 2011-12 season — the year after the Mavericks’ NBA championship. That NBA Finals victory over Miami was the last time Dallas won a playoff series.
One last thing about this series: These two franchises have at different times held the dubious distinction as being the worst in the NBA.
The Clippers franchise began as the Buffalo Braves in 1970, moved to San Diego in 1978 and then to Los Angeles in 1984. The Clippers failed to make the playoffs from 1977 through 1991 – and failed to win a playoff series from 1976 to 2006.
The Mavericks were the NBA’s worst franchise of the 1990s, with a regular-season record of 240-550 and no playoff wins.
I’m extremely pessimistic about the number of postseason wins we will get this year, but the Mavs did a horrendous job of controlling their destiny in the bubble so them getting the absolute worst possible matchup against the Clippers shouldn’t leave anyone feeling too confident
If Luka and KP show up and a couple of role players show up, you guys are dangerous for anybody. I think the Clippers will win in 6, but I wouldn't be floored if you guys won if some things rolled your way. If Luka is Luka, KP keeps playing at this level, and if a guy like Seth or Timmy gets really hot, anything is possible. Effort will need to be there on the defensive end though, and KP really needs to play to his potential on defense to anchor some of the dribble penetration guys like Doncic, Burke, and Seth are going to give up.
Take a game at a time. And give all in effort. Stay alert and focus. That's the only way to gut it out. The difference of playoff experience will be gone as long as the Mavs is able to do so. How to defend the interior effectively without compromising the perimeter defense are what make the difference between win and lose. How to diversify the offense especially in clutch time is also a focus. The experience from regular season matchup is that:
1. Clippers gets to the paint a lot. And the Mavs couldn''t deter. once the Mavs focus on the interior, 3 point rains appear everywhere on court. In short, the Clippers control the tempo against the Mavs in all regular season matchup. 2. Clippers has multiple defender to throw to Doncic. Amongst all, Beverely defends Doncic very well. And Doncic will face multiple shot blockers in paint every time. So the Clippers keep exhausting Doncic with a lot of great defenders and try to make Doncic a scorer instead of distributor. 3. Refs may favor experienced playoff team as well. Doncic seems to be affected by the lack of calls as well and get frustrated a lot. 4. Mavs starting players are not consistent on both end against the Clippers. Physically and mentally, the Mavs should prepare much better. Stop penetration. And put a hand on whoever shooting. Meanwhile, stay hot offensively without bothered by good defenders.
To make a difference, the Mavs has to solve some of these problem. And bare in mind that the Mavs has a shortage of big down low.
All regular season efficiency is irrelevant. It's the Clippers, one of the favorite to win it all. I suspect Clippers is the team to win the West in all likelihood. lbj may get a first rebound upset. Bradley's departure may change the fortune of the Fakers. Dame is unstoppable. So is AD. I expect the Suns to take the 8th spot initially. I wonder how the calculation dismisses the Sun. Portland is actually playing better than Utah and Houston lately.
I think I start Kleber in this matchup (i’ve also loved him in the starting lineup generally and think it could be a long-term play). It hurts us off the bench at the F/C position but I think it’s our best lineup.
starters: Doncic, THJ, DFS, Kleber, KP
I’d then run Wright, Burke, Curry and Boban with the 2nd unit. You go small on the wings/outside with DFS or Kleber next to Boban (and/or stagger the mins as needed).
Pointguard01 wrote:I think I start Kleber in this matchup (i’ve also loved him in the starting lineup generally and think it could be a long-term play). It hurts us off the bench at the F/C position but I think it’s our best lineup.
starters: Doncic, THJ, DFS, Kleber, KP
I’d then run Wright, Burke, Curry and Boban with the 2nd unit. You go small on the wings/outside with DFS or Kleber next to Boban (and/or stagger the mins as needed).
It’s gonna be tough.
Yeah, completely agree about Maxi starting. There are a few teams that we need him starting and this is one of them along with the Lakers (AD). Maxi's on-the-ball defense is underrated.
Poll ended too early. I will be optimistic and say 1 game. The Clippers will lose interest in Game 3 or Game 4 and the Mavs will build a 10 point lead midway through the fourth. Odds are they will blow it, but I will still give them 1.
This is the worst matchup we could get. Clippers are the best team in the NBA. They have enough defensive stoppers to make the most efficient offensive team in NBA look bad on offense.
fuller4379 wrote:This is the worst matchup we could get. Clippers are the best team in the NBA. They have enough defensive stoppers to make the most efficient offensive team in NBA look bad on offense.
I concur. However, all of our players, coaches, and front office can learn from this matchup.
My hope is that our entire team steps.up their level of play and makes a name for themselves.
Pointguard01 wrote:I think I start Kleber in this matchup (i’ve also loved him in the starting lineup generally and think it could be a long-term play). It hurts us off the bench at the F/C position but I think it’s our best lineup.
starters: Doncic, THJ, DFS, Kleber, KP
I’d then run Wright, Burke, Curry and Boban with the 2nd unit. You go small on the wings/outside with DFS or Kleber next to Boban (and/or stagger the mins as needed).
It’s gonna be tough.
Yeah, completely agree about Maxi starting. There are a few teams that we need him starting and this is one of them along with the Lakers (AD). Maxi's on-the-ball defense is underrated.
fuller4379 wrote:This is the worst matchup we could get. Clippers are the best team in the NBA. They have enough defensive stoppers to make the most efficient offensive team in NBA look bad on offense.
I concur. However, all of our players, coaches, and front office can learn from this matchup.
My hope is that our entire team steps.up their level of play and makes a name for themselves.
I am happy with this season. Luka took a huge leap and KP exceeded my expectations. We just need to get the right pieces around them. Hopefully, the play of Luka and KP can attract some good complementary players.
