LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — It has been a rough start to the 2020-2021 season for the Dallas Mavericks after losing their first two games on the road and still have one more to play before hosting their first home game two days before the New Years. In Phoenix, the Mavericks played the type of basketball on defense they wanted to play to start the year, but struggled to get their offense going. In their second game against the Lakers, Dallas started the game fast on offense but were out rebounded and outscored on second chance buckets. The Mavericks so far have played unbalanced, good at most aspects of the game but not great at either of them.
In their third matchup of the season they Mavericks will face a familiar foe who got the best of them in the playoffs. The 2-0 Los Angeles Clippers beat the Mavericks in the bubble playoffs defeating the 4-2, but the Mavericks have retooled their squad since their last meeting. One thing will remain the same as Dallas will still be without Kristaps Porzingis until at least January, but the All-Star center has seen light practice work while the Mavericks have been on the road.
Life hasn’t been the easiest without Kristap Porzingis in the Mavericks starting lineup since suffering a meniscus injury in game 5 of the series against the Clippers. The Mavericks are 0-4 since the injury which includes two playoff losses to the Clippers. Dallas has also lost all three of their regular season matchups against the Clippers.
In 12 career games against the Clippers, Luka Doncic averages 29.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.8 assists, and during their playoff series against the Clippers last season Doncic averaged 31 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 8.7 assists in 6 games becoming just the 5th player to average at least 30-8-8 in a playoff series. Doncic so far through two games has scored a combined 59 points, marking his second straight season of doing so, but has not seen the same success shooting beyond the arc as he did last season. Doncic three point percentage through two games is a low 18%, which he will look to improve in this game. The Mavericks are much better when Doncic is able to average a triple double and shoot over 40% from the three point line.
Even though Dallas lost their last game against the Lakers on Christmas Day the team saw an encouraging outing from their starting lineup in which all five players had double digit nights, which translated to overall team success last season. When the Mavericks had all five players in their starting lineup score 10+ points Dallas had a 5-3 record. The Dallas bench has not been as productive as predicted as a whole but have gotten valuable contributions from Trey Burke, Maxi Kleber, and Jalen Brunson.
A lot has changed in LA as they fired Doc Rivers who is now head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and lost some key free agents during the off season, like Montrezl Harrell who the Mavericks struggled to stop on Christmas Day off the bench. The Clippers did well replenishing their veteran presence and added complimentary pieces to fit their roster. Los Angeles added Nic Batum who is known for how well he defends, and also Serge Ibaka who flaunts a diverse skill set on both ends of the floor, and of course we can not forget the all-star backcourt which features Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Leonard led both teams in scoring in all of their last three outings against the Mavericks in the regular season and George scored 35 points against the Mavericks in game 5 of the playoffs last season. Dallas will also have to deal with Patrick Beverley who is known for his intense defensive approach and is known to get under players skin with his trash talk.
Again, Dallas will be challenged defensively heading into their third game of the season, but the emphasis should be placed on boxing out their opponents and rebounding the basketball. If the Mavericks can out rebound the Clippers and improve their efforts from the three point line it could be a close game, but if the unbalanced approach continues the Mavericks after tonight might be heading back to the metroplex with an 0-3 record.
