On Friday night, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 6 of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs to advance to the second round and face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After losing Game 1, Dallas overcame a 1-0 deficit and won four of the next five games to defeat the Clippers. The series was full of drama as there were several brawls in Game 3 and intense physicality throughout the series.
Russell Westbrook became the series' hated villain due to his antics, and Kyrie Irving and James Harden's personal rivalry escalated throughout the series. Irving did a great job of guarding Harden in this series and got the best of his former teammate in the series win.
Irving dominated for much of the series, and Harden disappeared when the team needed him the most. Harden finished with 16 points on 5-16 field goals and 0-6 shooting downtown. Before the game, Harden made some bold statements about Game 6 and the Mavs that ended up coming back to bite him.
“There's no pressure on us,” Harden said before Game 6 against the Mavs. “The pressure is on them to win the game.”
Harden said he and the Clippers knew how to beat the Mavs, but those strategies ended up being terrible for him. There's pressure on both teams in this series, and Harden's take could be viewed in a variety of ways.
The Mavs were certainly under pressure considering they were home favorites, but the Clippers had a must-win game to avoid getting bounced. Contrary to what Harden thought, the pressure was on the Clippers.
Harden had a bad game after saying this was to be expected, and maybe he should have said nothing about the pressure going into Game 6.
Stay tuned for updates on the Dallas Mavericks heading into the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
