Three Things the Mavs Must Do to Defeat the Clippers in the First Round

The Mavericks will open up their postseason on Sunday afternoon against a familiar opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavs have faced the Clippers in two of three of their last playoff appearances, and this will be the Mavs' third contest against the Clippers in the past five years.

The Clippers have had another solid season, finishing the regular season fourth in the Western Conference and twenty games over .500. The team also had another exceptional season on the offensive side of things as they were the second most efficient team on offense in the Western Conference.

If the Mavs want to defeat the Clippers in the postseason for the first time in recent memory, they must utilize their entire roster and play in a style complementary to their two superstars in the backcourt, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. They must also play effectively in the paint and on the perimeter to stop a Clippers team's dominant offense led by veteran superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Below we'll discuss three things the Mavs must do to defeat the Clippers in round one.

1. Utilize Their Role Players

As I mentioned earlier, head coach Jason Kidd must be able to get his role players involved in the offensive game plan to make the Mavs' offense as potent as possible against the Clippers.

Even though the Mavs offense is run by arguably the best backcourt in the NBA, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the team will have to get contributions from their role players and their bench to get past the Clippers. In the last month of the season, the Mavs proved the importance of utilizing their whole roster offensively when they went 16-7 in their final 23 games. In thirteen of these sixteen victories, at least three role players on the Mavericks roster were able to score ten or more points during the game to contribute to the victory.

The Mavericks will have to utilize their entire roster once again throughout the postseason to be successful. Several role players have thrived offensively in the second half of the season and have become solid pieces of the Mavericks rotation. Another player who has succeeded on offense is shooting guard Dante Exum. Exum has been stellar from behind the three-point line, finishing the season with a .491 shooting percentage from behind the arc, which happens to be the highest three-point percentage on the team.

One player in particular who has made an immediate impact on the Mavs offense is one of the newest additions to the team, forward P.J Washington, who has turned into a solid third option for the Mavs, currently averaging 11.7 points per game.

Another player who has succeeded on offense is shooting guard Dante Exum. Exum has been stellar from behind the three-point line, finishing the season with a .491 shooting percentage from behind the arc, which happens to be the highest three-point percentage on the team.

Overall, if the Mavs can get their entire roster to contribute on offense, they should have a good chance of passing the Clippers and making it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2022.