The LA Clippers are scheduled to face the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round of the playoffs, which means they'll have to find a way to make things difficult for Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. When asked about this before Wednesday's practice, Clippers star James Harden said it will be important for the team to have a good plan around Dallas' two stars.
“Luka takes all the pressure, double teams and stuff like that,” Harden said. ”[Kyrie] Obviously, it requires the same kind of attention and will get you the highest score. I think everyone has seen that throughout his career. He did it at the highest level. So I think for us we just have a really good plan around these two and make it as difficult as possible. They're going to raise their attempts and score the basketball, but I think it's very important for us to make it as difficult as possible on each possession. ”
The Mavericks will of course face a similar problem with the Clippers, who have three star players in their starting lineup in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Harden. There remains a question mark over Leonard's status, but he is currently with the team and the Clippers hope he will be ready in time for Game 1.
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