5 Reasons the Mavericks will crush the Clippers in first round of playoffs

3. Third time’s a charm

Both teams have a ton at stake in this third Mavericks-Clippers first round matchup, but it seems like the stars are finally aligning for the Mavericks to finally win a series versus the Clippers. In the previous two matchups versus the Clippers in 2020 and 2021, the Mavericks were still trying to build a competitive roster around Luka Doncic, as the Mavericks were taken aback at how fast Doncic reached superstar status after his rookie season.

Kristaps Porzingis was Dallas' second best player at the time, and whilst we saw flashes of Doncic and Porzingis' dynamism together during the first few games of the 2020 series before Porzingis got hurt, Doncic was often the only true shot-creator on the floor when Dallas played against the Clippers in each of those series and Porzingis was a no-show in 2021. While many will point to Jalen Brunson as someone who provided "help" for Doncic in those series, Brunson missed the entire 2020 playoffs with a labrum tear and was on the fringes of the rotation when Dallas played the Clippers in 2021.

The Mavericks have a far more dynamic attack now, as Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic have been playing some of the best basketball of their careers together recently. The Mavericks also have much more dynamic wings and bigs on both sides of the ball than they did when they faced the Clippers previously, making this the perfect storm of events for Dallas to beat the Clippers in the third series of this trilogy.

While the Mavericks' roster, coaching staff, and front office have drastically changed since the first two series against LA, Luka Doncic certainly didn't forget the pain of not being able to get over the hump against the Clippers twice.