Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images Will the third time be the charm for Dallas? For the third time in Luka Doncic’s career, he and the Dallas Mavericks will face off against the Los Angeles Clippers in the playoffs. This time around, though, Doncic is surrounded by a much different, stauncher, supporting cast. The Mavericks are tasked with trying to put an end to the Super Friend era once and for all. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook are all suiting up together trying to accomplish as a group what only Leonard has been able to achieve so far: win it all. But will Kawhi even be available? As he’s been dealing with knee swelling, the status of this matchup’s most pivotal player has this series feeling like everything is up in the air; nothing is for certain. Well, Dallas can only control what they can control as Dallas kicks things off in LA on Sunday afternoon. Who’s there? Before the Mavericks finished the season as the hottest team in the league, it was the Clippers who were putting the association on notice, dismantling all comers as they rattled off 23 wins to only five losses through December and January. Maybe that was all they needed to see and decided to go into coast mode, finishing the season on a much more pedestrian 20-16 run. The Clippers, unlike the Mavericks, made no major moves at the deadline (they added Harden in November), so what you see is likely what you get with them. Dallas’ complete makeover has been much talked about, and they’ll be bringing a squad the Clippers have never really seen. This series may distill exactly which version of these two teams was real, and which was a variance-based mirage. Next level Luka Luka, as a rookie, went into the bubble and put up 31-9-9 against the first iteration of the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George Clippers. It was an immediate indication that Luka was the real deal, even though Dallas lost that series in six. The next year, they met again, and all Doncic did was put up 36-8-10, pushing the series to seven games this time, but ultimately falling short. Now, with a scoring title under his belt, season averages of 34/9/10, and being in the thick of MVP contention, what can we expect from Luka? How could he possibly elevate his game even more? It’ll be exciting to find out. With a true superstar running mate in Kyrie Irving, wing defenders to match up with LA’s Big Three, and a couple of new lob catchers in Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford, there’s no predicting what Doncic’s ultimate output will be. The weight of expectations Dallas’ expectations heading into this season were about as low as they could conceivably be for a team with an otherworldly talent like Doncic on it. After missing the playoffs last season, many, MANY NBA writers (perhaps not the most creative bunch), had Dallas outside of the top eight in the West in preseason predictions. To be fair, until the trade deadline, those predictions weren’t looking all that far off. Dallas was hovering around that 8th seed spot for most of February and March. But after a paradigm-shifting trade deadline and a blistering finish to the season that nearly saw them earn home-court advantage Dallas is in an unfamiliar position. The favorites. Dallas is this season’s trendy pick for a first-round “upset” (as much as an upset of five over four can be), and everybody is expecting big things for Dallas with the way they tore through the last months of the season. For the Clippers, it’s a different but equally weighty set of expectations. This roster stocked with MVPs and big names doesn’t come cheap. With the NBA’s second-highest team salary and a big “all-in” move by adding Harden, this feels like LA’s last, best shot to climb the mountain. Westbrook and Harden are in the final years of their deals. Paul George has a player option next season should he decide that this Clippers team just isn’t going to get it done. So for Dallas, it’s an opportunity to see what this team can really do, and for Los Angeles, it’s time to see if the squad has already done all it can. How to watch You can broadcast or stream the game on ABC at 2:30 CST. Source: https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2024/4/20 ... ries-in-la