On Sunday, the Dallas Mavericks' regular season ended with a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This is Dallas' second straight loss as they have been resting key players ahead of the start of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Dallas' first-round opponent will be the LA Clippers, marking the third time in the past five years that the Mavs will face the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. Every Mavs fan can't wait to see Luka Doncic take on his arch-rivals in the Clippers, but this series could end up looking much different than expected.
Dallas seemed to catch up with LA at the perfect time with Kawhi Leonard's knee injury, but the Mavs are also dealing with a knee injury that is starting to become a concern.
Derek Lively II sprained his knee against the Houston Rockets on March 31st and hasn't played since. There was no update on the severity of Lively II's injury, and Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said “we'll see” when asked if Lively II would be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs. .
Like most teams, the Mavs are cautious when it comes to player injuries, but it seems possible that Lively II will miss a playoff game. Lively II has been a huge difference-maker this season, and his absence could put the Mavs at a huge disadvantage.
Lively II's injury could change everything, but the bigger injury in this series is Leonard's “knee inflammation.”
This is the same knee that Leonard has had multiple surgeries on, and the uncertainty of what exactly is going on with his knee could be a bit worrying if the Clippers . Leonard remains an important piece for the Clippers, and even if he were to miss out, the Mavs would have a much easier road to winning the series.
Leonard seems to take his game to the next level every year in the NBA playoffs, and the Mavericks saw that in 2020 and 2021.
Game 1 of the Mavericks vs. Clippers series will be played Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
Check out the latest injury updates for Derek Lively II and Kawhi Leonard ahead of the highly anticipated matchup between the LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
