The Clippers are the ultimate playoff test for Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic started four turnovers on Monday in the first two minutes of Game 1 against the Clippers. That was all the adjustment period he needed to qualify for the NBA playoffs. Los Angeles was the ultimate test for the MVP candidate for second year. The Clips defense is built around the type of long and athletic wings (Kawhi Leonard and Paul George) that do not exist in the EuroLeague.

Doncic was not perfect in his first taste of the postseason. He finished with 11 turnovers (as many as the Clippers) and could not make enough plays in the stretch, a known problem for Dallas, to prevent a 118-110 loss. But Doncic still had the highest-scoring playoff debut in NBA history (42 points on 27 shots), while chipping seven rebounds and nine assists.

It just does not matter who is waiting for him. He’s too big, too smart, and too smart to be contained by one player. Doncic, at 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, is just as strong as Kawhi and George. His most impressive game of the night came when he was isolated against Leonard at the top of the key with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. How many other point guards could send the two-time Final MVP flying across the track with just a hug from their shoulders?

Doncic’s power is one of the most underrated parts of his game. Patrick Beverley, a former first-team All Defense point guard, was initially assigned to the Mavericks star. But there is not much that anyone as small as Beverley (6-foot-1 and 185 pounds) can do to please him. Doncic jumped through him several times on his way to the rim:

He can score on anyone. But what makes Doncic special is that he does not have to. The 21-year-old has clearly read from the LeBron James postseason playbook. He always tries to find the weak link in the opposite defense. Nearly half of his offensive possession against the Clippers (48.7 percent) came as the ball dealer in the pick-and-roll. Not only is he at his best when attacking a shocking defense, but those plays also let him pick and choose exactly who he wants to attack.

His primary victim in Game 1 was Clippers starting center Ivica Zubac. Doncic knew he could always make an open shot for himself as his teammates as he rode at the clumsy 7-footer. Even when Los Angeles turned around to stop the first drive, it was only a matter of time before Dallas, who had the best offense in NBA history in the regular season, found the open man:

Clippers coach Doc Rivers had no choice but to beat Zubac, he played just 22 minutes and did not put himself back in the game after the halfway mark of the third quarter.

But all it took was for Doncic to direct someone else. The Clippers switched almost every perimeter screen to prevent it from getting too much space on its disks. That Doncic sinned and just tried until he found a matchup he liked. If he could not slowly attack big men, he would have his way with smaller guards, such as Reggie Jackson:

Doncic is almost matchup-proof. He can attack any defender from anywhere on the floor. It does not matter if his shot is out on a given night, because he can always get to the free throw line. There’s a reason why he’s so often compared to James Harden. He shot 14-of-15 from the foul line in Game 1, scoring one less point than the entire Clippers team (15-of-20) from the strip. He is not afraid to hunt down transgressions and call out officials if they do not give him a friendly whistle. The irony of Kristaps Porzingis’ outburst in Game 1 is that Doncic experiences the officials more often than his precious. He even admitted that he did it too much earlier this season. How often Doncic gets on the line will be judged not only in this series – but over the rest of his career.

Dallas puts defensive works in impossible positions. Each player in his rotation is a knockdown shooter. Doncic can dictate any matchup he wants, and the defense can’t send help without making an open shot for someone else on the 3-point line. Once that happens, he has the size and vision to make every pass in the book:

The only counter that has an opposite defense is to try to give Doncic as few matches as possible. Los Angeles eventually slowed down after lineups with Marcus Morris, a 6-foot-8 and 230-pound combo forward, at center. They ended the game with a lineup they had not used all season, playing three wings (Morris, Leonard, and George) and two guards (Beverley and Williams).

The Clippers need Montrezl Harrell, who missed the seeding games in mourning his grandmother, back at 100 percent. He was quiet in Game 1, with just six points and two rebounds in 15 minutes. Harrell is not an elite defender, but he has the right combination of size (6-foot-7 and 240 pounds) and speed not to be overwhelmed by Doncic. Playing Leonard, George, Morris and Harrell together is the closest thing to a Doncic-proof lineup that exists in the NBA. But even that is not enough. The Clippers do not have five defenders with the physical tools to go against Doncic. And he only needs one weak switch to attack.

The Clips’ best chance of humiliating Doncic is to use his own playbook against him. The Mavs hide Doncic as much as possible on defense. But there is no hiding him when his husband screens for the ball. George (27 points) committed murder on Monday when he shot Doncic at him. The Mavs star simply has the footprint to fight George’s jumper and stay ahead of him:

Doncic does not want to be afraid to fight through screens and hunters to chase the court. To get in his legs and force him to work on defense should make it harder for him to dominate at the other end of the floor.

That’s where his youth comes into play. He still lets his crime affect his defense. Perhaps the biggest game in Game 1 came with a little over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. It started when Seth Curry took a quick transition 3 before Doncic was able to touch the ball. The Clippers ran the ball onto the court, but Doncic was so mad that he never found his man, allowing him to hit an open 3:

Doncic has a lot of confidence in himself, which can be both a gift and a curse. He always wants the ball because he is sa sure he can make the right play. It’s hard to argue given the amount of success he’s had in his young career. Doncic trusts his teammates to make open shots once he finds them. But he still teaches them to trust them to make their own decisions.

He is the most ball-dominant player in the NBA. This is the Leaderboard in touches and time of possession in the bubble (entering Wednesday’s action):

Harden has a reputation as someone who keeps the ball the whole game and does not allow others to get into a rhythm. But the difference between Doncic and Harden on that list (21.6 touchdowns per game) is as wide as the gap between Harden and the 31st-ranked player on that list, Dejounte Murray.

Part of that difference can be explained by the way the Mavs are constructed. They built a team of spot-up shooters who could play from Doncic. Porzingis is not Russell Westbrook. He’s the perfect second option next to Doncic, as he can score in collisions without having to hold the ball.

But just because of Porzingis to be able to yet that does not necessarily mean it is best for the Mavericks. Doncic has to entertain his costar by giving up the ball. A defense designed to lower Doncic will have a tough time against the 7-foot-3 Porzingis, and vice versa. If the Clippers use a smaller front court of Morris and Harrell to switch screens on Doncic, then they are not letting anyone be big enough to suffer Porzingis.

Porzingis has yet to make a major impact on Game 1 yet for his controversial outing, finishing with 14 points on 3-of-9 shots in 20 minutes. The Mavs will need both of their stars to dominate if they are to overpower the Clippers. Performing part of the crime by Porzingis would make it easier for both of them.

The next step in Doncic’s development is to improve his shot outside. He shot just 31.6 percent from 3 on 8.9 attempts per game this season. He takes too much trouble. Doncic averages 1.3 catch-and-shoot 3s per game this season compared to 7.4 off-the-dribble 3s. Letting other players make shoes for him would increase his percentages and also diversify the Mavs’ offense.

Their offense has collapsed in the stream of games this season. Dallas has the no. 26 offensive rating in the NBA (99.2) if the score in the last five minutes is within five. It’s not that Doncic is not a coupler. He already has a long list of last-minute shots on his NBA resume. But it’s hard to bear so much of an offensive workload for the entire game without eventually lowering it, especially if the defense can charge to stop you in the final moments.

The hardest lesson to learn in the postseason for a young superstar like Doncic is that more is not always better. The key to winning in the NBA playoffs is doing more with less.