Luka Doncic's Honest Statement After Clippers vs. Mavericks Game 1

The LA Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1

Apr 21, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) is defended by / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The LA Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 on Sunday afternoon, doing so without Kawhi Leonard. The Mavericks came out flat, and when asked about this after the game, Luka Doncic said, "I don't know why we did. But we just got to watch film and come out in the second game with the same energy we came out with in the second half."

Doncic isn't sure if the absence of Leonard impacted his team's focus, saying, "We prepared like he was going to play, obviously. But that should not change our mentality. Their mentality was next man up, and they executed very well. We just got to stay focused for 48 minutes. It’s the playoffs, so we got to stay focused for 48 minutes... It shouldn’t have [affected our focus]. But I don’t know."

Doncic's co-star Kyrie Irving shared similar sentiments about the team's need to be better going forward, but also shared some of his positive takeaways from this game, saying the following:

"Going into the second half I think we really challenged them. I know we outscored them in the second half. We got stops... First half I think they had a few plays that we just weren’t prepared for and we got to take that accountability. And in the second half we picked up the physicality and started demanding that greatness out of ourselves and not being afraid of the moment."

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