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Clippers vs Mavericks Preview: Playoff Rematch
The Clippers are looking to keep the good vibes going after their dominant win against the Jazz on Monday, but will face a much, much tougher opponent in the Dallas Mavericks.
Game
Information
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
When: 5:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports Network, AM 570
Projected
Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Norman Powell – Kris Dunn – Nic Batum – Ivica Zubac
Mavericks: Luka Doncic – Kyrie Irving – Klay Thompson – PJ Washington – Dereck Lively II
Injuries
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Terance Mann Out (Finger), Derrick Jones Jr. Questionable(Hamstring), Kobe Brown Out (Back), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)
Mavericks: Luka Doncic Questionable (Heel), Kyrie Irving Questionable (Shoulder), Maxi Kleber Questionable (Ribs), Jaden Hardy Out (Ankle), Dante Exum Out (Wrist)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers are coming off a get-right game against the Jazz, a much-needed easy win after a few brutal losses. Their blowout victory pushed their offensive rating up from 25th to 20th, and their defensive rating from 7th to 5th: even one-third of the way through the season, single games can have big impacts on net ratings. Even better than the win over the lowly Jazz were the injury updates after Wednesday’s practice, with the news that Derrick Jones Jr. is ahead of schedule, Kawhi Leonard is practicing, and Kobe Brown is getting closer to a return. Reinforcements are on the way!
The
Antagonist
By just about
any metric, the Mavericks are one of the better teams in the NBA. Their record
of 17-9 has them tied for 3rd in the Western Conference, they have
the 4th ranked offense in the NBA, 11th ranked defense,
and are 6th in Net Rating. They have done all this despite Luka
Doncic getting off to a slow start (by his standards) at the beginning of the
season. Part of that is injury luck: outside of Dante Exum, the Mavs have
suffered no serious injuries. In fact, nine of their top 10 players in minutes
per game have played at least 20 games out of 26 total. On top of that, the
Mavs have seen continued development from second-year center Dereck Lively, and
have received tremendous production from Quentin Grimes, who they picked up for
cheap this summer. The Mavs are a well-rounded team with stars, sturdy role
players at all positions, and some young talent with upside. They aren’t going
anywhere.
Notes
Playoff Rematch: This is, of course, a rematch of the first round of the playoffs last year, as well as of the 2020 and 2021 playoffs. However, these teams are both somewhat different than they were just last spring, and very different than the early postseason contests. Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Mason Plumlee are off the Clippers and PJ Tucker has been banished, while Derrick Jones Jr. went from the Mavs to the Clippers and the Mavs picked up Grimes, Klay Thompson, and Naji Marshall. Thus, the matchups will be very different across the board.
Guarding Luka: The most important question when facing the Mavericks is figuring out how to guard Luka Doncic. For the Clippers, this is where health comes into play. Derrick Jones Jr. would be the ideal candidate to guard Luka, but he’s questionable and has missed a few games with a hamstring injury. This would be about as tough a matchup as possible, but you know DJJ would be game. If he can’t go, then the options for guarding Luka are Kris Dunn, Amir Coffey, and Nic Batum. Dunn is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, but he’s undersized on Luka – and is also a perfect cover on co-star Kyrie Irving. Nico is tall, long, strong, and physical, but not swift. Amir is quicker but not nearly as strong. If I had to guess, if DJJ can’t go, Nico will start and take the Luka assignment, while Norm takes Klay and Harden is on PJ Washington. If DJJ can go, this becomes a lot simpler.
Hunting Luka: On the other end, the Clippers need to try to make Luka defend. He’s an ok defender when he tries, but he does not like doing so, especially in a random regular season game. The Clippers have two guys in Harden and Norm who can do damage on Luka, Harden on-ball and Norm off-ball, and the Clippers should try to get those matchups as frequently as possible.