No. 5 seed Dallas stays out in Los Angeles trying to grab a 2-0 series lead over the No. 4 seed Clippers late on Thursday night. Los Angeles rested all of its star players in the season finale, ostensibly to avoid the Lakers and get a first-round matchup with the Mavericks instead. That strategy appears questionable following a 113-103 win for Dallas in the best-of-7 series opener on Saturday.
The Mavericks shot 47 percent from three-point range in the win, while the Clippers shot just 27 percent from beyond the arc and could not make the big plays required offensively and defensively down the stretch to pull out the win.
The Mavericks are led by superstar guard Luka Doncic, who led the team with lofty averages of 27.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game this regular season. Doncic had a monster Game One, recording a triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Center Kristaps Porzingis played 43 games this season, recording 20.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per outing.
Porzingis was unable to get anything going on Saturday, scoring just 12 points while shooting 4-of-13 from the field with only four rebounds. Guard Tim Hardaway Jr. stepped up in a big way on Saturday, scoring 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
Los Angeles is led by two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard after he had another big regular season, averaging 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. He had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in Game One on 9-of-22 shooting from the floor. His sidekick, Paul George, has taken serious criticism in the past for lackluster postseason play and did not prove those naysayers wrong in his first game of the 2021 postseason. George had 23 points but shot just 8-of-18 from the field and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Forward Marcus Morris was essential throughout the regular season, but he scored only four points on 0-for-6 shooting from three-point range and collected only two rebounds. George and Morris are going to need to step it up if the Clippers hope to avoid another embarrassingly early postseason exit.
The Clippers had every chance to put away Game One on Saturday but were unable to get anything going offensively down the stretch as they fell apart. Dallas is not a good defensive team and yet Los Angeles failed to convert on way too many important fourth-quarter possessions. The Clippers should be able to make proper adjustments to put themselves in a great spot to even the series in Game Two.
Los Angeles is looking to make a statement to the NBA this postseason that this team is capable of winning an NBA title and that would likely require a win on Thursday night.
The Clippers are going to come out ready to play in game two and should be able to put together a strong performance on both ends of the floor to put up a double-digit win and even the series before heading to Dallas.
Prediction: Clippers -7 (-110)
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