And once again, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks will face off in the NBA Playoffs. That’s after the Mavs secured the Southwest Division title with a resounding 111-92 road win against the Miami Heat Wednesday night. The Clippers lost to the Phoenix Suns, 124-108, at home on the same evening, but Los Angeles head coach Ty Lue’s mind is already in the playoffs — and the looming showdown against Luka Doncic and company.
During the postgame press conference following the loss to the Suns, Lue was asked about when he will start making plans for the matchup against the Mavericks.
“I’ve already started,” Lue said before getting up from his seat and calmly walking out of the room.
Ty Lue on when he’s going to start preparing for the Mavs:
“I’ve already started.”
This series is going to be fire
pic.twitter.com/3N0UGGAo92— BGN Hoops (@BGNHoops) April 11, 2024
The Clippers and the Mavericks have faced each other in the playoffs twice in the last five years. In both first-round series, Los Angeles emerged victorious and eliminated Doncic and the Mavs in 2020 and 2021, respectively. However, things aren’t the same anymore since the last time these teams crossed paths in the postseason.
This time, Doncic is more mature and arguably playing in the best season of his career, thus far. He also now has Kyrie Irving as a running mate. As for the Clippers, they still have Paul George and Kawhi Leonard , albeit older. James Harden is also now part of the Clippers equation.
The Clippers have won two of three meetings against the Mavericks this season, though, they two squads have yet to share the floor since the calendar flipped to 2024.
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