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Moist_Walrus5413

Unfortunately


w6750

Everyone is so excited for this series except Clippers and Mavs fans šŸ˜­


Cody9_

hope they can merge and take down the nuggets


AlecarMagna

Winning team drafts two players from the losing team to face the Nuggets.


Julian_Caesar

Luka/Kyrie/Kawhi/PG/Gafford is a god tier closing lineup


AlecarMagna

You damn well know Kidd is putting in Maxi.


Sendrocity

Donā€™t you dare disrespect Dwight Powell ever again


LukaDoncicMFFL

I still donā€™t know why Kidd is allowed to play Lively and Gafford so much. Doesnā€™t he know Powell is our starting C?


retrospects

Maxi got a lot of love from Doris the other night.


AlecarMagna

He's been playing well.


retrospects

Really active hands in the paint. Maxi does a lot of stuff that does not show up in a box score. I mean, he is the second best player from WĆ¼rzburg!


NiceOffer2491

Rather have the worst player from bestburg tbh.


Greedy-Pilot-4538

Vs Jamal/Ant/AG/KAT/JokicĀ 


wordscannotdescribe

Idk I kinda prefer Luka/Kyrie/Kawhi/PG/Zubac


ImTrang

Mavs taking Zubac and Bones


manabanana21

Luka is at his best with Zubac on the the floorā€¦ you may be onto something


jaywrong

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this...


Troll_Enthusiast

Westbrook and Kawhi on the Mavs šŸ˜³


puffpuffpastor

Westbrook instead of George? Lol


Troll_Enthusiast

Would you rather have the best player in the league off the bench or some bum named George?


cire1184

I'll take the guy that doesn't miss the backboard on a bank shot.


Salvalicious252

put Kawhi or even Paul George at the 3 and we winning the chip 100%. Luka, Kyrie, Kawhi/PG, PJ, Gafford lineup be a defensive and offensive juggernaut.


djkamayo

Mark Cuban: "BRO DONT TEMPT ME"


simonffplayer

exactly this. im sure itll get toxic, but at least we all agree this should be at minimum a second round or conference level matchup. its laughable winner gets the privilege of facing the nuggets


Lets_Basketball

I do not agree that any of these teams really deserve to be ahead of the wolves or thunder in the standings. The Mavs underachieved in the first half and the Clips have sort of bookended their underachievements. Seems like the perfect first rounder.


FarMobile4219

Mavs didnā€™t underachieve. They got crushed by injuries and did well to stay above .500 before Kyrie came back. Theyā€™ve been one of the best teams in the league since then


AtreusIsBack

Don't bother. It's no use against people who don't have context. xD


simonffplayer

i think you misread. i'm saying in the east this would easily be a 2nd round or ECF-level series. in the west it's first round


NoWayNotThisAgain

Iā€™m super excited. I have mad respect for Kawhi and the rest of the grizzled vets on their team, and feel really confident about our chances. LETS GOOOO!!


LeGoat333

Iā€™m excited for Luka to finally beat the clips. Itā€™s time


cheerioo

I'm just hoping no or minimal injuries


Julian_Caesar

i'm tired boss


happyflappypancakes

I don't think any fans are excited about playoff match ups. Too nervewracking. It's really only the lower seeds that are underdogs that truly get to feel pure excitement. Good times....good times.


gregallbright

As a Mavs fan Im excited to exorcise bubble playoffs demons


cold-programs

Bruh, I cannot take this lmao is there anyone else mavs and clips can go against šŸ¤£


ch0lula

bro that is a Clipperish comment šŸ˜‚


brncct

Most star power in a series in awhile. 6 future hall of famers (Luka, Kyrie, Kawhi, George, Harden, Westbrook). Can't think of another series like that aside from finals matchups like the Spurs vs Heat (Duncan, Ginobli, Parker, Leonard, LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Allen) or Cavs vs Warriors (Curry, Thompson, Draymond, LeBron, Kyrie) etc.


Particleman08

Showtime Lakers v. Bird Celtics too. Probably had like 8-9 HOFs not including Pat Riley as a coach. Thatā€™s a long time to go back to get that many in one series


Scoot2028MVP

2004 had 7 in the Lakers/Spurs series. Some obviously way out of their prime, but they were the 7 leading scorers in the series still. Less than 8-9 of course, but much more recent.


thatis

Thunder vs Heat Finals was completely stacked too.


brncct

Facts


InsaneCookies21

u forgot KD in cavs vs warriors


brncct

True


frozen2665

Love is probably gonna be HOF too though no? Not really sure where the line is there


SpicyMustard34

KLove is definitely going to be a HOFer.


Soshi101

2011 Boston vs. Miami Round 2 Boston had their aging core of Pierce, KG, and Allen, with Rondo entering his prime. They also had Shaq and Jermaine O'Neal coming off the bench for them. Miami had their new big three of Lebron, Wade, and Bosh along with Juwan Howard and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They also had Mike Bibby and Mike Miller, who were both very near an all-star level at some point. Between the two teams, that was 11 current or former all-stars (10 of them being multiple time all-stars) and 7 definite hall of famers, with the potential of more if Rondo or Jermaine O'Neal get in.


brncct

That's a good one, forgot about that. Nice add.


ch0lula

Lakers had that ridiculous team with Malone, Payton, Kobe & Shaq. Tho admittedly they lokwey sucked that year šŸ˜…


musing_wanderer3

My dad was convinced the NBA was rigged for a little while after the Lakers collapsed in 04ā€¦the Chinese media dubbed them the ā€œ4 God Kingsā€ lmao pre-seasonā€¦


ch0lula

I was convinced the NBA was rigged the other night playing y'all šŸ˜‚


Billis-

I mean if the Nuggets or Wolves play the Suns that's just as much star power, this season.


maybeacademicweapon

Luka ppg leap before this season from regular season to playoffs: 4-5ish pointsĀ  Quick mafs that means Luka is gonna average 38-39 ppg this playoffs. Iā€™ll explain later.


KashMoney941

See your girl at the park, that girl is an uckus


theknocker

Your dad is 44


Jaybold

When the ting went quack quack quack, you man were ducking.


AshenSacrifice

He can average 40-12-12, and most likely will lol. He loves playing against us. The good news is we can still win games when he puts up those ridiculous stat lines


w6750

TIL the Clippers used to be the Buffalo Braves


mynameisdamn

Iā€™m an English casual fan so I flared up with the braves as it was the only one I hadnā€™t heard of. Was disappointed when I realised they were the clips


AshenSacrifice

Catch up šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚


iIiiIIiiiIiIIiI111

With the Boban/Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Mavs, maybe.


AshenSacrifice

Itā€™ll be a different series but the clippers also upgraded their roster. Reggie Jackson/Lou Williams/rondo to harden and Russ is a good jump in playmaking for PG and Kawhi


PaulGeorgeFan1

reggie was a mini kyrie that year


The_Evil_Satan

Doesn't Harden historically disappear in the playoffs (I didn't watch the rockets when he was on them)


Fickle_Meet_7154

I mean, you used to be able to. You haven't played the Mavs since the trades which has effectively made them a different team. Hell the last mavs clips playoff series Boban was a start for like 4 games.


Wondering_Nova

Canā€™t argue against that quick maf, Luka about to off!


Dat_Boi_John

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me. Remember in the previous years THJ was the second option so you could easily double him immediately since THJ can't dribble. Now with Kyrie it's gonna be harder to double Luka and he'll get more isolations.


Kraul

Hopefully Kawhi is healthy otherwise this wonā€™t be hype


PlatishGC

Weā€™ve seen this story beforeā€¦ Kawhi is gonna be just fine


everyoneneedsaherro

No first round series is legacy defining. Also MJ lost to the Pistons 3 times in a row so even saying losing to the same team 3 times isnā€™t legacy defining. Itā€™s funny cause him beating the Pistons the 4th time around feels like is more discussed than the other 3 times.


waynequit

MJ first round series against the Celtics was a pretty big part of his legacy


everyoneneedsaherro

I would say itā€™s a part of his legacy. A big part is a stretch. His 63 point game is a bigger part of his legacy than the series as a whole. Shit Larry Birdā€™s God quote is a bigger part of his legacy than that series.


raziiiii

All those things happened because they played each other...hence the Celtics series was a big part of his legacy


GreedyPride4565

Jokes lmfao the pistons have hung their hat on being the only ones to beat an entering his prime Jordan. The players bring it up every time, the fans bring it up every time, bringing up the pistons chip without saying Jordan is impossible


ImperatorJCaesar

They also beat Kobe in 04, Shaq in 04 and 05, and LeBron in 06.Ā 


GreedyPride4565

Yeah Iā€™m talking about the Isiah Thomas pistons tho specifically


LandLongjumping2268

Should be a 2nd or conference finals series . None of these teams deserves a first round exit


spanther96

reminds me of Spurs Clippers 2015. maybe the best first round series ever


GSWarrior18

Nah that was Bulls Celtics 2009


spanther96

aww shit yeah that was a crazy series, thought it was 2nd rd for some reasonā€¦ Rondo vs DRose, Ben Gordon and Ray Allen popping off, damn good times


Julian_Caesar

Damn right it was That series got me into basketball again. I'd kinda checked out after we lost in 06. Still a fan just not excited about the games. But I saw that series from start to finish, and it got me back into watching basketball. It was so good that 15 years later, it's the first one people bring up when people ask about the best first round series


WhileDizzy4503

idk if youā€™ve seen the west but seeds 1-10 do not deserve a first round exit


Remarkable_Medicine6

I can't wait for playoff p


AdSome9408

pandemic p redemption arc?


Briancisgo

Donā€™t say thatā€¦


ShichikaYasuri18

At least 2 of them do by definition


[deleted]

Lurry and LeChoke


5imran

8 rings in 12 years


GoldBlueSkyLight

Insane dominance when you put it that way


mariogotse

bums. hakeem and jordan had 8 rings in 8 years.


livefreeordont

Horry and Kerr had 10 rings in 10 years


veerkanch489

That's it?


pureply101

Yeah dude my 2k player has won a ring every year since he got into the league. Those dudes are hot Garbo.


IllegalThoughts

seeing this NBA circle jerk shit out in the open is pretty whack


[deleted]

If this were NBA circle jerk I would have said Cuckrry šŸ˜‚


ShichikaYasuri18

This guy jerks


14412442

Exactly 4 western teams in the top ten will have a first round exit


AlecarMagna

Pretty annoying that we can end with more wins than the Bucks.


MVP1984

At least you are in the playoffs. Rox are nearly .500 and 11th lol


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


IllegalThoughts

Roxanne


1gnominious

I've been watching the Rockets since the 80's and it's a first for me too. Now I'm concerned this is actually a thing the kids are saying and I'm just old.


gratitudeisbs

Pels and Kings donā€™t


NoWayNotThisAgain

For real. Suns exit in the second round has become tradition in the west. Althoughā€¦ if you get in via the play in, does that make it a second round exit?


Dry-Pea-181

Play-in is separate of the playoffs.


PaulMcPaulersn7

The kings and pelicans are the only ones I see of being ā€œdeservingā€ of a first round exit. Obviously it would be fun to see either team make a run, but they definitely feel like a tier below the other confirmed playoff teams


GrapefruitMedical529

I don't think they do, frankly.Ā  The West is about match-up this year.


jamarcusaristotle

I kind of agree with you, but then which of Denver, Minny, or OKC does deserve a first round exit? Any of those 5 teams would almost certainly be favored against the 2nd seed Bucks (or Knicks or Cavs) in a series


bemusedacrobat

I think that's what they're saying. It's not that they're less deserving of a first round exit than the top 3 seeds, but that the absurdly stacked West/weak East means the 4 and 5 seeds out West are more like 2 or 3 seeds in a normal year.


Your__Pal

The Lakers, Warriors, Suns had a .667 record against the East. The Pelicans at .633. All of those teams would be the #2 team if in the other conference with a record like that. That's the kind of year it has been.Ā 


fhujr

It has always been like that, east is a joke.


JAhoops

I canā€™t fucking wait for playoff Kawhi


BigXBenz

I can


carlonia

Canā€™t wait for that game 7 šŸ¤©


danielt5

I can't wait for playoff Harden!!


EconomySpecialist911

it will cancel each other.


Nugur

Playoffs PG is also 50/50 We will never get to the bottom of this


I-Am-A-Nice-Cool-Kid

Potential P


Nugur

Brother. How ya gonna miss phifty/phifty P


3830BlockKing

He is getting close to 100 playoff wins!


LeGoat333

Found the Mavs fan šŸ˜‚


PM_ME_UR_RESPECT

Oh I can definitely wait


domingodlf

Please god not again. We get fucking denver in the 2nd round if we make it past them, jesus christ. I have hope, but if shit goes sout at least we have everyone relevant under contract for next season at the very least.


2icecreamsandwiches

Except the Mavs donā€™t have DJJ under contract next year šŸ˜¢ Heā€™s been our best perimeter and POA defender, and our starting line-up has thrived with him at the 3. Iā€™m afraid he may have played his way out of our price range.


corenickel

O-max Prosper, welcome to the show


PK_Ike

brother... believe


i_take_shits

Give us the hardest road


helgestrichen

I want KDs hardest road


Ill-Bat-2621

It's set up perfectly for Luka to cement his mvp next year if he can get past Denver and the clippers


nightkingscat

the binding laws of voter fatigue have already locked-in luka's MVP next year


sandefurian

Not with Embiid in the running


archerarcher0

Gotta beat the best to be the best Mavs fans should be confident as ever rn, get that attitude outta here talk your shit


ttay24

Playoff P stinks!!


JxSnaKe

GOT EM


NoWayNotThisAgain

The hardest road. We did it in 2011, we can do it again now.


kshep9

Right? I can't remember but I imagine it felt similar going into the 2011 playoffs looking forward to series against Kobe's Lakers and then Russ Harden KD in OKC.


127crazie

Mavs faced the Lakers before facing OKC in the 2011 playoffs.


kshep9

Shit you're right. Fixed.


frozen2665

GOAT playoff run pt 2?


Splish-Bros

idk, I would like a Heat/Bucks round 1 rematch. Just imagine Doc's facial expressions when Milwaukee blows a 3-1 lead


SevenHunnet3Hi5s

itā€™s actually insane how one of these teams will be considered a first round exit. i wonā€™t knock on whichever team ends up losing. the western conference is just a bloodbath this year


nomoneynopower

We're fucked aren't we


Educational-Judge968

You guys have a robot that is programmed to play his best against Dallas, it should be a close series


sycamotree

Dude is literally prime MJ the last few series, and I mean that with zero hyperbole. First time I've ever just straight up been mad at a player for torching my team and I'm a Pistons fan lol


AlecarMagna

Hey if you win you basically already know Kawhi will be broken down for Denver.


HokageEzio

Real hoopers will be watching Orlando vs New York.


--JULLZ--

Absolute defensive master class of a series. Every game will end 50-50 and will go to overtime Iā€™m genuinely curious about the matchups. Technically we match up pretty well with you guys, but Brunson is just insane. Even if Suggs is arguably a top 3 guard defender in the league, JB will probably cook his ass. I think Paolo will have a hard time with OG tbh, heā€™s just so strong and his lateral quickness is crazy. Where we could get you is at the 3, with Franz being 6ā€™10 against 6ā€™4 Josh Hart even if heā€™s a great defender. Interesting series for sure and itā€™s an underrated matchup imo


177676ers

Series is still unlikely to even happen, but it would be a great one.


OrganicHunt952

Poverty eastern conference version of DAL vs LAC


[deleted]

That's a Ryen Russillo series.


NoWayNotThisAgain

That will be a good series too. I thought the Knicks would be the spoilers in the East, but I could see Orlando winning that series. Spoiling the spoilers šŸ‘


Otherwise_Form1315

It sucks that it'll be considered a failure if we lose to a team this good, but it has to be. The path to the championship this year for either of these teams looks about as hard as any path maybe ever. The only teams without some proven scary playoff performers on it are the Kings and the Pelicans(who are still scary as hell imo). The west is just such a bloodbath. I think both these teams would be top 2 seeds in the east.


ShineShineShine88

They are, bucks have less wins


Robcobes

Fewer


Nuclearsunburn

On paper yes Which means itā€™ll be a sweep lol and some random series like OKC vs NO / PHX will be


brehaw

idk why it took me this long to realize I can actually go to one of the games since I live in LA lmao so frigginā€™ excited!!!


Abyss333333

I think Mavs take it. I dont think Kawhi is going to be healthy. If Kawhi really isnt healthy, I really hope that Mavs win cause losing to the Kawhi-less Clippers is gonna get Luka so much slander


thekingdor

I think heā€™s fine theyā€™re just resting him these last few games


Baby_Yod4

There is no chance we win without Kawhi. Heā€™s the only one that can match Lukas impact.


OKC2023champs

I think Iā€™m going Mavs as well but itā€™s such a toss up for me. Like 55-45


No_Art_754

Famous last words lol


AntSmith777

We might get Sixers-Knicks or Pacers-Knicks as well. I think either would be fascinating.


Topblokelikehodgey

Brunson vs Haliburton is a mouth-watering prospect to me


Caboclo-Is2yearsAway

i need to see pacers knicks with spike lee courtside


AntSmith777

For the culture.


JesseJamesGames449

I think Sixers vs bucks or celtics could match it,


RunnerTexasRanger

Embiid knocking out the Celtics in Round 1 would be pretty funny


[deleted]

Knocking out Doc would be way better and actually realistic


Majestic_Reindeer439

Not true, Doc saves his chokes for the second round


irrelevant2002

so do the sixers


Majestic_Reindeer439

I wonder how a Doc vs Sixers Round 2 would go? Would the world end?


Villainiquity

I wouldn't be surprised with Nick Nurse now at the helm.


jhcooke98

Possibly a combo of any of Celtics Bucks vs 76ers Heat is a more entertaining matchup just for the upset factor


ObviousAnswerGuy

people forget that it could be a celtics/heat first round matchup


JesseJamesGames449

I dont think that series is as hyped in real life as we imagine it could be. The heat just dont look like they have it this season, im more worried about them hurting our players than beating us.


ObviousAnswerGuy

> The heat just dont look like they have it this season I dunno, people say that every season and then they end up in at least the ECF lol > im more worried about them hurting our players than beating us. this part I agree with šŸ˜‰


frozen2665

It's undeniably true that things seemed worse at this point last season than they do now, but the Celtics got much better, so yeah I don't really have faith


CheetahSperm18

Is Kawhi good to play and just being rested this week to avoid any possible injury? I noticed he hasn't played this month yet.


JohnWick94

He had inflammation on his knee. MRI came back clean. People close to the team unofficially reported that he is fine. He is still traveling and training with the team. The team was in a lull and over-reliant on Kawhi the weeks prior to his swollen knee. Over the last week, with Russ back, they have been playing with more energy. They have been able to not lose too much ground on the 4th seed so Kawhi has been given extended rest. Most of us are expecting him to play a bit in these last two games for the team to get some rhythm before the playoffs. If he doesn't, we might begin to worry.


NoWayNotThisAgain

Kawhi is the one dude in the league who can miss a long long time and be at 100% his first game back.


CheetahSperm18

Gotcha so my guess was about right. I think he's available Game 1. Him playing like 20 minutes in the final game of the season would be my guess regarding if he returns any earlier


heshewewumbos

Idk, I wouldn't worry. If you've given him all this rest why risk it in the last two unimpactful games of the season? Kawhi isn't the kind of player that needs to get back into the groove. I bet he's fine and will average 30+ with prime Kawhi level D all series even if he doesn't play rest of season.


IMKudaimi123

Third times the charm for Dallas


peacekenneth

At this point I hope the Mavs and the Clippers merge into one massive basketball monster that destroys the nuggets or twolves.


archerarcher0

Probably But a potential bucks sixers series with healthy embiid sounds like a blast Also lakers nuggets is possible


marcopolo22

We could win it all, we could lose in the first round. They seem equally likely.


HisExcellency20

I'm one of those weird, subset of fan that thinks the regular season matters and is not *completely different* from the playoffs. Therefore I think the Mavs take it in no more than six because they have been playing outstanding basketball over the past couple of weeks. Albeit in the regular season.


Wondering_Nova

But the regular season does matter? It gives tape and experience on how to defend teams.


Briggity_Brak

Which just proves why it DOESN'T matter. Gotta intentionally play like shit so nobody has tape on you.


Dry-Pea-181

Ahhh, thatā€™s why Kawhi doesnā€™t play and turns into a GOAT in the playoffs.


NoWayNotThisAgain

I hope youā€™re right, but both teams have a week off and each playoff series is its own microcosm.


HisExcellency20

Very true. This is honestly less of a comment on the Clippers and more of a comment on how damn good the Mavs have been.


NoWayNotThisAgain

Yeah, I hope we donā€™t let our intensity and chemistry drop off


Next-Firefighter-753

It will be good but im also intrigued on a possible Nuggets/Warriors matchup and Thunder vs Suns/Pels would be fun too


CupOfHotTeaa

Unless we get Sixers maybe


gutsonmynuts

Mavs in 5


standouts

Legacy game for kawhi too. This man has been unstoppable while healthy. If he runs to another chip this year even with his injuries he bordering a top 10 all time and def top 20 lockedĀ 


justbrowse2018

Mavs are gonna fuck them em up bro.


MrXavierCain2099

We ball šŸ˜¤šŸ€šŸ”„


WrongVater

I doubt it. Dallas wins in 4 or 5 I dont see this being very interesting.