Luka Doncic Opens Up About Mavericks' Playoff Struggles vs. Clippers

Luka and the Dallas Mavericks have advanced past the first round, defeating the Utah Jazz

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For the first time in his career, Luka Doncic has advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs. Having been stopped by the LA Clippers in consecutive years, the superstar guard finally led his team to the Western Conference Semi-Finals. After the game, Luka referenced those two first round matchups with the Clippers, saying that "The last two years were tough… I’m happy we got past this first round."

The Dallas Mavericks failing to advance past the Clippers in both 2020 and 2021 was far from Luka's fault, as the superstar guard put up historic numbers in his first two playoff series; however, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were just too much for Dallas to handle. Now matched up with an inferior Utah Jazz team, Luka and the Mavs were able to get over the hump.

The reward for defeating Utah is a Western Conference Semi-Finals date with the one-seed Phoenix Suns. The Suns finished off the New Orleans Pelicans as well on Thursday night, setting the stage for a showdown between Luka Doncic and Devin Booker. While Dallas is the lower seed, they will have by far the best player in the series, which can always cause complications for the opposition. It should be an exciting battle between two Western Conference powerhouses.

While the LA Clippers will have to watch these two teams from home, Luka has not forgotten about the battles he had with them the last two seasons.

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