Los Angeles Clippers star Terance Mann recently made an appearance on the Tidal League podcast. During the hour-long conversation, Mann talked about a range of topics related to the NBA and the Clippers. Towards the end of the show, the 26-year-old was asked by the hosts of the show to choose between Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander based on their offensive arsenal. Mann refused to pick one between the two but ended up going into details about the Clippers’ strategy to mitigate Luka Doncic’s dominance in the 2021 playoffs.
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The Los Angeles Clippers eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs two times in a row in 2020 and 2021. However, the 2021 matchup between the Mavs and the Clippers turned out to be a seven-game thriller that really established Luka Doncic as a legitimate superstar in the league.
Despite losing out in the series eventually, Doncic tallied a staggering average of 35.7 points, 10.3 assists, and 7.9 rebounds in 7 games in the series. However, Mann recently revealed that those numbers might have been a smokescreen that the Clippers used to edge out Dallas in the series.
Terance Mann reveals the Clippers’ interesting strategy to contain Luka Doncic
The Clippers might have had a dismal showing in their last two playoff outings, but the LA side made it to the Conference Finals in 2021. On their way to the WCF, they had to get past the difficult hurdle presented by the Mavericks. The Clippers were one of the favorites to win it all that year and the Mavs were just a dark horse relying solely on the talents of their superstar Luka Doncic.
However, Doncic’s sheer dominance on the hardwood posed a huge problem for the Clippers as they found themselves down 0-2 at home early on in the series. The LA team could barely keep up with the Luka Doncic-led Dallas side despite having two of the best two-way players in the league in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. On the other hand, Doncic didn’t have a reliable All-Star caliber player on the team to help him out in pivotal moments.
Nevertheless, Doncic balled out in the series, scoring 40+ points in three games. However, Mann recently revealed that Doncic actually played into the Clippers’ hands by scoring so many points. The Clippers star said on the podcast mentioned before, “Our game plan that series was just, let him [Doncic] cook and give his all and then attack him on the defensive end as best as we can.”
“Because it’s tough to do what he’s doing on both ends…and by the fourth quarter, we felt like he was kinda slowing down. But first three quarters man, he is letting everybody know!” Mann added.
Mann also talked about Luka talking trash to the Clippers
Terance Mann admitted that Luka Doncic and Kawhi Leonard were just on a different level that series. However, Doncic was the loudest on the court. The Slovenian star usually puts up good numbers against the Clippers, with a career average of 32.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 15 games against the LA side.
Therefore, he also lets his opponents know that he’s ready to compete. It will be interesting to watch Doncic compete against the Clippers this season, especially after Mann revealed their game plan against him.
