The NBA Playoffs begin tomorrow and the Western Conference will have two of its most exciting teams face-off in the 2-7 matchup. The second-seeded LA Clippers will face a deceptively low seeded Dallas Mavericks. The Clippers are favorites to win this series. However, the Mavericks shouldn’t be counted out just yet.
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The Mavericks have had the greatest offense of all-time over this season. However, they face a defensively sound Clippers team that beat them thrice this season. The Mavericks have also not impressed in the seeding games outside the sensational play of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.
The Clippers hold the second-seed for a reason. The Kawhi Leonard and Paul George duo is expected to win the championship this season. However, the team does have chemistry issues due to the multiple injuries that the squad has had to deal with.
NBA Playoffs: Who wins between these two teams?
The Mavericks will definitely take a game or two from the Clippers this series. However, it doesn’t look like the first game will be that game in our opinion. This young Dallas team is notoriously streaky, and right now they look pretty cold. They ended the seeding games with back-to-back losses, while the Clippers won their final two bubble games.
The Clippers have one major issue heading into this series. That is finding a body to guard the 7’2 Kristaps Porzingis. While Paul George is a solid match-up for Luka Doncic, there is no one that can match up with KP. Ivica Zubac and Joakim Noah are the Clippers centers, but both men lack the footwork of Porzingis. KP can score in the paint as well as from three. Noah and Zubac will have a hard time if KP looks to take them off the dribble outside the paint, as they won’t be able to keep up.
For all the reasons Clippers can’t guard Porzingis, the Mavericks have no obvious ways to clamp Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. Luka’s defense is yet to catch up with his sensational offense. The best defender on the Mavs is Porzingis, but he will have to deal with Zubac. This leaves the likes of Dorian Finney Smith or Tim Hardaway Jr. to take the responsibility of guarding Kawhi.
