The Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki supports his old team in their playoff series against the Clippers. Dirk has also been a perennial figure for the Mavericks in his career. He led the team to the 2011 NBA Championship and sees Luka Doncic as a future Mavericks great.
Dirk continues to be impressed by Luka Doncic’s brilliance on the court and his leadership skills on the team.
Dallas Mavericks Legend Playoff Prediction
On the Top Shelf Podcast with Devin Harris, Dirk predicted that the Mavericks would beat the Clippers in six games. He highlighted the difficulty of matching up with Kawhi Leonard as the main challenge. However, Leonard’s return is a mystery at the moment. His right knee inflammation is keeping Leonard sidelined until further notice.
Dirk told Mavs.com, “The Clippers are always tough against us. They have a lot of length on the perimeter. They have a lot of guys to throw at Luka… we never really had an answer for Kawhi. So it’ll be fun, but I do think Mavs in six.”
The Clippers Are The Mavericks’ Ghost of Playoff Past
This year’s first-round match-up makes it the third time in the past five seasons that the Mavericks faced the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Playoffs. The Clippers bested the Mavericks in their last two battles.
This year’s match-up is very different from the previous two years. The Dallas Mavericks now have former NBA Champion Kyrie Irving to help take the offensive load off of Luka. Kyrie has buried the “locker room cancer” trait the media has associated with him during his time with the Celtics and Nets, thanks to his play with Luka.
Meanwhile, the Clippers acquired two former NBA MVP winners in Russell Westbrook and James Harden in the offseason. Although the Clippers have more depth with Norman Powell, Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, Paul George, and more, LA is an entirely different team without Kawhi on the floor.
Is Luka Doncic The New James Harden?
A key matchup in the series has to be Luka versus Harden. Media and fans alike have compared Luka to being Harden 2.0.
Bill Reiter of CBS Sports made the comparison and said in his article, “But at top of what could be at stake is a possibility sometimes whispered in the NBA, and barring a change, creeping closer to reality: that Luka Doncic is actually James Harden 2.0- a superb scorer whose game doesn’t easily translate to success in the playoffs.”
Like James Harden, Luka is a ball-dominant player who can score in many different ways. He might not be a free throw merchant like people claimed Harden to be, but their scoring creativeness is top-notch in this era of the NBA.
They also don’t play much on-ball defense either, but they get a good amount of rebounds. Harden might be a better off-ball defender, as he was known for getting in the passing lanes for steals during his time in Houston and Oklahoma City. Time will only tell if Luka separates himself from that comparison.
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