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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers took care of home court over the last week and closed out their five-game home stand with a 5-0 record. Up next: a three-game road trip starting Tuesday night in Dallas against the hottest player in the NBA, Mavericks star Luka Doncic. Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, as well as head coach Doc Rivers, know exactly what kind of challenges lie ahead.
Through his first 16 games, Doncic is averaging an absurd 30.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 9.8 steals, 1.4 steals, and 3.3 made 3-pointers per game on 49.5 percent shooting from the field and 34.7 percent from beyond the arc. He has led the Mavs to an 11-5 record, good for fourth in the Western Conference early on this season.
Head coach Doc Rivers admits he hasn't had much time to follow the second-year swingman out of Slovenia, but knows what he has been up to.
“I monitored [him] today,” said Rivers. “Yeah, that was amazing. I was on the board — on board first — last year with him. I just think he is a special, special basketball player. He is. And he’s hard to stop. This year he's come back with more. Like offensively, he’s tough.”
The good news is the Clippers are well-equipped to hand Doncic with Leonard, George, Patrick Beverley, Moe Harkless, and Rodney McGruder on deck. They may not stop him, but they'll make Doncic work for every point or assist he ends up with.
“I haven’t looked at a game plan yet, added Rivers. “I just know that no one is stopping him so far. And if you don’t, they’re going to win. That’s going to be our challenge. I don’t know if you’re going to stop him but make him inefficient somehow. I don’t know. But we’ll look at it. We got a three-hour flight together, we’ll be able to watch a lot of film.”
George has also been keeping up and following with the Mavs and their prized 20-year-old in the days leading up to Tuesday night's game.
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“I think what’s impressive is his skill set at his age. He’s a scorer, he’s a playmaker, he’s a ball handler. I think he’s close to averaging a triple double, so he’s doing it in all aspects of the game and doing it at his age is remarkable.
“I think just he’s constantly a threat all night. He’s the head of the snake, we gotta take it to him, we’ve got to be aggressive on the defensive end. With our offensive players, we gotta take him on the other end.”
The Mavs will enter Tuesday's game having won five straight games, with Luka Doncic averaging 34.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, and 1.6 steals on 52.8 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc.
Prior to the season, many had the Mavericks as a much-improved team after acquiring Kristaps Porzingis, but not many, if any, had them as a shoe-in for the playoffs. Right now, they're looking like one of the best teams in the Western Conference, and it's all thanks to their young star.
“Dallas, talent wise, I think they’re really performing higher than I think people would expect and he’s the reason for it,” acknowledged George. “He’s really doing everything, so I’ve been watching, I’ve been keeping up and following what he’s been doing and man, he’s doing it. He’s in the MVP conversations right now. So it’s kind of hard to not know what’s going on in Dallas.”
Kawhi Leonard didn't have much to add to that, but knows facing Doncic will be one of their toughest challenges.
“He’s the head of the snake over there,” Leonard said. “He's playing great. Getting his teammates involved, making shots, just playing competitive basketball, and they're winning.”
Luka Doncic and the Mavs take on the Clippers at 8:30 p.m. EST on NBA TV. The game is is one of three LA has against Dallas this season.
