The first-round tie between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks has come to an end with two individual stars above the rest: Kawhi Leonard and Luka Doncic. The former has averaged 32.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. The second, 35.7 points, 7.9 rejections and 10.3 assists. But only one of the two could advance round and that was Kawhi, who has given two basketball exhibitions in the last two games of the series, with his team on the brink of elimination. For its part, Doncic was not far behind with his 46 points and 14 assists in the last game. It is his fifth game in the playoffs (of 13 played) in which he reaches 40 points. To put it in context, players like Damian Lillard, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, Kyrie Irving, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan or Karl Malone, all of whom have played more than 50 games in the qualifying rounds for the title, they don’t have as many 40-point games. .
Furthermore, it has become the youngest player in history to average more than 35 points in a postseason. However, all these milestones do not convince the Slovenian, who was very clear in the press conference after his elimination when asked what he had shown during the tie: “I haven’t proven anything yet. We’ve made the playoffs twice since I’ve been here and we’ve both lost, so nothing at the moment. They pay us to win and we haven’t.”. Another sample of honesty and humility from a player who is usually quite critical of himself before the press, which did not prevent him from showing his appreciation for the efforts of his teammates: “I think we have fought very well. We have reached the seventh game and we could not win it. But I think we have given everything and I am very proud of this team.”.
The truth is that Doncic’s accompaniment on the court cannot be said to have been up to par, except for specific exceptions. Tim Hardaway, the Mavs’ second-best scorer in the series, has scored 17 points per game, while Kristaps Porzingis, the team’s second-best scorer, has scored 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. In the last game, if we put aside the Slovenian’s triples (5/11), the other new Dallas players scored 5 of 25. On the other side, Kawhi was much better surrounded. Paul George has had 23.6 points and 9 rebounds in the series, Reggie Jackson has had 15 or more points in the last six games and, for example, Marcus Morris, who was not doing a great tie, appeared at the right moment: 23 goals in the seventh game. A duel in which even the benches made the difference. 27-6 in favor of the Clippers, with Terance Mann (13) and Luke Kennard (11) as differential factors.
“His performance in this tie has been amazing”
It seems clear that Dallas has not managed to build a winning team around its franchise player in the three years that the point guard has been in the league and that should be the priority of the franchise, as his coach already pointed out last night, Rick Carlisle: “We have to keep building around him and this summer is going to be very important on many levels. Doncic is a top five in the league. “Carlisle was not the only one to appreciate the Slovenian’s performance. Rival stars also raved about him.” He does everything. He shoots very efficiently, in the triples, in one on one, attacking the hoop … He does everything for his team, he is a great player. We will see you around here for many years. He plays at his own pace and makes it look easy, “said Kawhi.. Paul George also wanted to talk about Doncic: “He already left in the playoffs last year and, to be honest, you know that he can be better, that he still has room for improvement. But his performance in this tie has been amazing. He plays with great confidence and his game is well above his age. It is capable of deciphering almost any defense. We went all out against him and he still kept his team afloat by improvising on the fly. It will be great, it has a great future ahead“.
