Ranking the LA Clippers preferred first round opponents
2) Dallas Mavericks
Dallas is scary because of one thing and one thing only:
I mean, have you seen this kid play? At just 21-years-old, Doncic has a grasp on the game that a ton of eight-year veterans don’t. If the Clippers end up getting Dallas in the first round, expect a superstar level willing victory from Doncic at least once.
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The Clippers can throw wave after wave of defenders at him but stopping Doncic is next to impossible. When he’s not scoring (he’s averaging over 28 points per game), he is a more than willing passer.
His young superstar teammate, Kristaps Porzingis, is finally regaining his form after recovering from an ACL injury and the duo could cause problems. The Clippers’ lack of size could come back to bite them here as Porzingis can draw Ivica Zubac away from the rim or use his height to just go over the top of Montrezl Harrell.
The team has some depth to them, featuring Seth Curry as a knockdown shooter and the recent addition of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist providing some defense. Dallas might not be the best overall team featured on this list so far but they scare me simply because Luka can get hot and win.
Also, who wants to be responsible for knocking Boban Marjanovic out of the playoffs? I don’t want to be that team.