Periodically, we’ll fill you in on what’s trending in the playoffs with a bite-sized rundown of the hot issues. Here’s the first installment: ——————— Through 11 NBA playoff games, the home team has won all of them. Those are the higher-seeded teams in each series with the home-court advantage, so maybe it shouldn’t be shocking. But it is. When will the madness stop? Maybe tonight with the Mavericks? That would be a great place to start because the playoffs so far have been surprising because of the home-healthy results. In this era, being a road warrior in the NBA is more common than in the pa ..read more

LOS ANGELES – No way do the Dallas Mavericks anticipate the stars aligning exactly right for the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 2 of this best-of-seven series the way they did in the series opener this past Sunday. Mostly everything in the first half went sideways for the Mavs in Game 1, which the Clippers won, 109-97. The madness in this game consisted of: *The Mavs fell behind, 34-22, after the first quarter and were behind by at least 10 points over the game’s last three quarters. *The Clippers were a mind-boggling 18-of-36 from three-point land for 50 percent, and just kept nailing one three ..read more

LOS ANGELES – When a reporter asked Dereck Lively II his thoughts on being back around his teammates, the Dallas Mavericks’ rookie center wasted no time delivering a succinct answer. “Man, I ain’t around my teammates,” Lively said. “I’m around my family. “There’s really been a lot going on in my life. There’s been a lot of chaos, a lot of things going on, and this is the only place where I can come to bond.” Until he played 19 minutes Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers during Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs, Lively had been sidelined since he sprained his right knee during a Mar ..read more

LOS ANGELES – Going into Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference playoff series, the Dallas Mavericks knew they would be in for a tussle dealing with Los Angeles Clippers’ future Hall of Fame players Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Those accolades also go to Kawhi Leonard — if he ever plays in this series. What the Mavs didn’t anticipate is that Clippers center Ivica Zubac would play Game 1 like he too deserves some Hall of Fame mention. OK, maybe the breaks should be pumped a bit when mentioning Zubac and hall of famers in the same sentence. But he sure d ..read more

LOS ANGELES – Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Dončić was named Sunday by the NBA as one of three finalists vying to win the league’s Most Valuable Player award for the 2023-24 season. The other two finalists are Denver center Nikola Jokic and Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The MVP winner, along with winners in six other categories, will be announced on TNT on Tuesday. Finalists were chosen based on votes from sportswriters and broadcasters, and their ballot will be posted at pr.nba.com after the announcement of each of the end-of-season awards. The three finalists for the ..read more

If you couldn’t be in Los Angeles for the opener of the Mavericks’ first-round playoff series against the Clippers, there was no better place to watch Game 1 than AT&T Discovery District in downtown Dallas. It was the official watching party hosted by the Mavericks and, other than the actual game, it was an unbelievable time had by all Take it from somebody who’s been to a lot of watch parties. “Truthfully, this is a great venue for something like this,” said Bill Hogan of Royse City. “It’s a beautiful day, but even if it was cloudy, it would have actually helped the view of the big screen ..read more

LOS ANGELES – That Dallas Mavericks’ squad that rambled through the NBA with an impressive 16-2 record down the stretch of the regular season was nowhere to be found on Sunday afternoon when it mattered most. And it cost them dearly. The Los Angeles Clippers walked out of the Crypto.com Arena with a hard-fought 109-97 victory over the Mavs in Game 1 of this best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series. It was a game that was begging for the Mavs to take charge, especially after Clippers coach Tyronn Lue delivered devastating news for his team less than two hours before tipoff th ..read more

LOS ANGELES – It’s game day, and one caveat the Dallas Mavericks have working in their favor entering Game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers is that the Clippers haven’t played against this Mavs team. Sure, the Clippers played the Mavs three times this season, and won two of them. But all three of those games occurred 26 games before the Mavs acquired center Daniel Gafford and forward P.J. Washington in separate trades on Feb. 8. The lingering question is, since the Clips haven’t seen this Dallas team up close this season, does that give the Mavs a distin ..read more

When he was being interviewed on Devin Harris’ podcast Top Shelf this week, Dirk Nowitzki delved into a sensitive topic and spoke the truth, as he always does. “We’ve never really had an answer for Kawhi,” he said, referring to Kawhi Leonard, the former Spur, Raptor and two-time NBA champion who now works for the Los Angeles Clippers. The 6-7 forward has, indeed, been a beast against the Mavericks in past playoff meetings. However, Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season with inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee. He has not played since March 31 and hasn’t even ..read more

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