Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving got embarrassed by the Los Angeles Clippers this weekend in the first game of their best-of-seven series.
Despite coming into the playoffs as one of the league’s hottest teams, and even though L.A. was without its best player in Kawhi Leonard, Dallas got thoroughly outplayed from start to finish.
In the aftermath, Doncic and Irving made a bunch of excuses for why they underperformed.
The biggest reason, apparently, was because they thought Leonard was going to play even though everyone else knew he wasn’t.
“We prepared like he was going to play,” Doncic said.
Luka Doncic on how the Mavs preparation was affected by Kawhi Leonard being out for Game 1:
“We were prepared like he was gonna play. But that shouldn’t change our mentality. Their mentality was next man up. I think they executed very well.” pic.twitter.com/1YKSxCLTF4
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 21, 2024
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— Game 7 (@game7__) April 21, 2024
“But that should not change our mentality. Their mentality was next man up, and they did very well, very well… It’s the playoffs, so we got to stay focused 48 minutes.”
Irving struck a similar note.
“It is a psychological game, playing chess, playing high-level combative game, competitive game,” he said.
Kyrie Irving on facing the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard:
“It is a psychological game, playing chess, playing high-level combative game, competitive game. When someone like Kawhi who has a huge presence for their team isn’t playing, there is a bit of an adjustment period… pic.twitter.com/mIVwasUbAa
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 22, 2024
“When someone like Kawhi who has a huge presence for their team isn’t playing, there is a bit of an adjustment period mentally because that means that other guys have to step up.”
If Doncic and Irving truly believe that beating the Clippers without Leonard is harder than doing so with him, they are in for a rough ride over the next couple of weeks.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
