How the Clippers held Dallas to 8 points in a quarter! 

Tyrone lou is hell of a coach, he and spoelstra somehow get role players to play better then they actually are. After every lou's timeout there's three point play from clipps.

Mann fighting over the screens and staying glued to Luka has got to be one of the sexiest things you can see on a basketball court!

An underrated part about Ty Lue's coaching for me is how he was able to reignite Russell Westbrook's fearlessness. Yes everyone praises him for coming off the bench but Brodie legitimately looks like his old self again, he's comfortable in the lineup that he's once again added shooting to his arsenal. Sure the volume's a bit weak and the efficiency is on and off, but he's not afraid anymore. Besides they don't need him to be a lights out shooter, they just need him to be a threat so the volume isn't really an issue, as long as he keeps that confidence to shoot, Clips have got an absolute firecracker coming off the bench.

Ty Lue coaches circles around Jason Kidd

This game was amazing to watch. Seeing the Clips players fully engaged on the defensive side was a thing of beauty.

The Clippers are a tough first-round matchup for the Mavericks. They're almost uniquely well-suited to slow down Kyrie and Doncic. Tyron Lue is a good coach and the Clippers have been the Mavericks' kryptonite in the playoffs thus far during Doncic's time with the Mavs. The fact that they played so well in Game 1 without Kawhi should be a major source of concern for the Mavs.

The way you rewind the footage and slow ot down makes it so easy to follow. Very good editing 👌🏾

Mavs had very little ball movement in the 1st half. Their offense was very stagnant. It’s as if their game plan was Luka and Kyrie taking turns going 1 on 1

This analysis is better than most of the NBA sports analysts take whose review is just to slander the players for being bad and for losing against the team they hate.

Harden passing Dirk in all time playoff points with him in attendance is an underrated funny moment

This has been the best watch along so far, extremely educational Love the video, exited for more like it throughout the playoffs

They did this without Kawhi Imagine when he comes back

So now we will get your Video on how Luka stonewalled PG, Kawhi, Harden in game 2 right?

Alternative title: How the Mavs got their wings Clipped

The Clippers just have way too much versatile players on and off the bench to handle and yet the Mavericks are still pulling their weight, it's gonna be a dogfight.

This is legit first time ever I'm excited about the clippers and I've been a NBA fan for over 20 years

PJ attacking the clogged paint instead of swinging it to luka so he could swing it to the wide open kyrie is why the mavs will lose this series. The coaching has been so bad, they won regular season games off kyrie and luka being game managers on the court. You could've replaced gafford with ANY decent lob threat and PJ with any other 3-d player. There's no innate chemistry because your game managers dont know how the role players play. Not a critisim of kyrie and luka, but of the coaching. I mean look at the spacing at 7:08 - kyrie top of the key with all FOUR players along the baseline, what is he supposed to do? Lively doesnt know if he wants a screen, kyrie doesnt call for it, why is no one at either of the wings? They recover the ball and washingtons immediate thought is "oh shit get it back to kyrie" with two on him in the corner with 5 left on the clock...... when you've got a wide open hardaway who's FINALLY at the wing! it's nuts!

great video! Thanks for putting this together! I wasn't able to catch the game but when I saw the box scores I was most intrigued by what the clippers did to hold luka/kyrie down in such an offense heavy environment. thanks again!!

"the ball needs to go to Hardaway" .... yeah buddy that was the right play but can't blame PJ and Dante not passing to him after he missed a point blank layup

On a smaller screen, the Thinking Basketball logo in the bottom right corner looks like a fried egg inside your head.

that's why high usage centric offences don't do too well in the playoffs. when everything slows down and defences dial in.. you need a varied offence.

Moree videos with game breakdowns like this one please. Thanx for this one and greetings from Slovenia.

Really been enjoying the watchalongs 🏀💪

Please do more of these watch alongs. They’re amazing!!!

Love these watch alongs, so informative and makes watching the games live more enjoyable

Very insightful commentary. I love the way you break it down without disparaging any players or coaches. Just basketball!

i loved watching this game, it stayed entertaining and it also felt like the lead for some reason wasnt enough of a safety net. It was a greaat game im glad i woke up aat 5:30 in the morning to watch it.

it pains me as a Mavs fan to say we can easily and realistically will be out coached in this series, luka and ky will have to put on capes

great analysis, mann played amazing d

Nice job uploading quickly ben

Loving the content Ben!

LOL. But at least the Clips and Mr „Thinking“ Basketball will always have this glorious quarter to reminisce.

Thank you for this. Please make more of these nba games breakdown for this playoffs

I think Mann did such a good job at making Luka pass the ball and not let Luka get his own looks by just getting up on him

Fantastic analysis!! 🏀

jason kidd getting outclassed like crazy, legit insanity, well, mavs players also ahving a terrible night dont help

Thanks for this. I was perplexed watching this as a Mavs fan. I do think we are at a considerable disadvantage at head coach which gets magnified in the playoffs.

i love luka he's one of my favorite players, but he is very emotional and doesn't play hard when things are going bad, not just that, but he's such a big defensive liability, he will play better in this series, and I hope the team makes the defensive adjustments to help Luka and get past the clippers

Former NBA role players make up some of the best coaches across the board and it really goes to show there is a lot more to the game than just being talented. When you don't have the luxury of being the star you have no choice but to learn those skills because if you can't maximize your role and play within the system then you're off the team somewhere else.

Thank you for this solid analysis!!! Espn and most of the other mainstream media is giving us no depth and subjective lazy take on this series. I want opinions based on the film!!! Great work!

What's so key for Lu this series is Harden/George/Kawhi all having fantastic upper body strength and hands so when Zu steps up to the pick roll or goes for a double, the forwards can be trusted to rotate in to the paint and disrupt the layup before it's even out of the shooters hands.

Love this vid

i been saying this all year, clips in 6 🔥

13:40 That's the first time I've seen Westbrook actually be disciplined and locked-in on Defense! Even in his MVP season, his instincts were always to gamble for steals and he often got lost on D. Ty Lue really is a magician!

This is a great channel

I wish they would’ve forced PJ to shoot short floaters 😭 he’s the one guy that rarely misses them. Running DJJ off the 3pt line is a fantastic idea for any defense tho as long as there’s big help, if it’s a guard as the low man DJJ will just rise up and slam it but clips played a lot of those possessions so well, outside of PJ mavs roll players missed almost every single shot they took the entire game and that mixed with Luka and Kyries poor first half showing just wasn’t gonna cut it. But if I was a clippers fan I would hope they don’t bank on the Mavs having another quarter with just 8 points tho, legit worst quarter for Mavs in almost 40 years

Youngins, WATCH T-MANN His play is a textbook of _How To Defend a Scorer Man-to-Mann_ in the era of switch-heavy D. He's given similar hell to Curry, Fox, JB, Booker, Halliburton, and many more. He was key to splitting the season series 2-2 vs DEN guarding Jamal Murray.

Insane insane quarter by Mann

I’ve watched clips all season since it’s my it was probably a top 5 performance

luka is such a non-threat without the ball. he really needs to work on his off ball game

Great defense especially by Mann

Zubac time and time again on the block essentially in an iso situation due to the spacing was, I don’t even have a word for it, it was brilliant in its simplicity and like duh. For a moment and for stretches it was like he’s the best player in the league, or rather him on that team against that sort of modern defense and modern lineup (typical lineup) was virtually unstoppable. The notion of spacing and shooting facilitating a traditional big man low post offense is like Belichick running the ball 45 times that one game. It’s like they reinvented (discovered) the big man and the low post.

look at Kawhi Leonard on the bench when Westbrook scores at 14:41 russ wants to celebrate and flex which is part of him and kawhi who strictly wants to win, never flexes or nothing, as efficient as can be, poor mans knees wont hold up, the man just wants to hoop... when i started writing this comment i was excited, now im feeling for kawhi... still funny af when thinking i know a bit of his personality and playing style, when he waves russ on, hes probably excited, just doesnt show really

Front office loves terance mann❤

Thanks!!

Something is telling me Dallas will have some real solid counters to Zubac drop coverage with Luka going right.

Where's all of those Clippers fans that were talking?! Gonna sweep Dallas, about how they have this elite level defense. Crickets when it happens the next game. Just like Luka told Booker a few years ago. "Everyone talks when they are up"

Thank you for making a clippers breakdown

4:34 Unrelated, but it's hilarious seeing a normal sized water bottle in Kawhi Leonard's hand

Watching the Mavs makes you appreciate how important well rounded role players are in the playoffs.

Mavs players not being able to score helped a lot. In third quarter they scored in less than 3 minutes more than entire second quarter.

Kidd seemed confused, while Lue had many angles covered...These Mavs look like F O O D

also don't disregard the fact that a big part of Lue's gameplan is obviously making sure his players don't bite on Luka pump fakes. I don't think Luka got anybody to leave the ground over the whole game.

Great clipper win great thinking basketball breakdown

with the amount of shots the Mavs front ironed it had me actually thinking the basketball hoop was messed up XD

¡Gracias!

Keys to this game were Russ and Zu. Zu set the tone in the first quarter, and is really going to be an issue for the Mavs who don't have that big, tall, strong interior presence. Zubac putting the pressure on the interior causing collapses and getting easy buckets starts getting other guys open and allowed Harden and Russ to get in their flow. The reason Russ was so big was just the pressure he putting on the ball, Kyrie and Luka still did their thing but not letting Luka walk into any shots without moving the ball from it's natural position in his shot kept him out of a rhythm a majority of the game.

Rooting for the Clippers, is just sad knowing that Luka won't go this cold again in this Series, at least I can't see it again

I feel like a big part of the Clippers success here and going forward is getting Russ and James to do things they never wanted to do as MVP's. Both guys have had a difficult time adjusting to not being the guy anymore, and is speaks to Ty Lue as a coach that he's got them playing active off ball defense and buying into the team.

5:20 can't agree with you honestly This 3p pull from hezi is pretty standard for Kyrie: he had clear view on this one and overall i think this wide ISO for Kyrie is so + math for the team. Love from Europe!

Everybody is slandering the clippers...I hope they prove them wrong

Thats crazy how Harden's (the Shot Blocking Machine) paint presence scared Kyrie from passing to his big man for the easy dunk.

I'm so fucking confused by the comments here and in the media in general. Why are people expecting the Mavs to beat the clippers? Sure Kawhi is out, but they had strength in numbers all year. They are their best with him, but honestly I expect them to beat the Mavs without him and with him it shouldn't even be a series.

Ben was one of the few online personalities who actually chosen the Clippers this series (albiet hesitantly😂)

Love this! I wonder how the clippers are deciding which coverage they use? When does Zubac drop? What happens when the Mavs set double screens, so clippers wings can't hawk luka? I love playoffs basketball

I know that Zu and Harden are the obvious picks for flowers, but I have never seen a gaurd defend Doncic better than Terrance Mann did this game. Absolutely all over him.

Bro if Kawhi can be Toronto Kawhi for even A SINGULAR series this team will get REAL far

Adjustments will be made some of the road teams will bounce back

4:30 can we talk about Kawhi’s hand around that bottle?

4:33 is that a 16oz bottle kawaii is holding or a mini one?? 😂

Ty Lue is a great coach

As much as Coach Lue's tactical prowess is evident in the playoffs, the Clips roster does match up well vs the Mavs in the playoffs. They got enough competent big bodies to throw at Luka and Kyrie and can switch/help when needed and are bigger overall even in the front court. Luka can't easily match up hunt even if he goes after Zubac. And as long as the supporting cast of the Mavs choose to try cash in via jumpers that won't fall, the Clips are willing to take that bet especially if the game is a slog. I can't even imagine a 'good' scoring night for the Mavs in this series to run away with a game even if the Clips are lukewarm in scoring.

to me this breakdown also shows a little bit of how the refs helped the clippers - who played great and deserved the win on their own - pull this off. the kick out foul, also the handcheck at 2:03 vs 6:31 and 6:44. especially with a player like harden, who builds up confidence by calls as the game and the calls go, this is a key factor.

I STILL dont understand how the Mavs drew *33 FLIPPING FREE THROWS* but then the Clips drew like 13... At An Away Game Too!

You touched on it but would like to know what exactly changed in the second half because was night and day. Did the clippers just give less effort or was it all about not attacking Zu

If Mann can keep playing THAT level of defense, with a returning Kawhi in game 2 or 3? This team just get's even more dangerous.

seems like mavs need a post player when luka sits on the bench. to create ball movment and screening for the other players

Zubac was the game changer, they had no answer

You gonna do an update for this one?

Well let’s see game 2 , I’m a clippers fan you can’t underestimate Luka and kyrie

Luka gotta understand this is not your regular season games anymore. Teams will take defense seriously. He can not play the ball hogging stats padding game if he want a slight chance of advancing forward.

Too much dribbling, that is the problem with the Mavs. Passing and cutting is a better way to attack any defense.

So what is the mavs counter? Or are they an only one action deep team?

Great analysis……. I think Dallas figured something out in the second half! Kyrie was 8-8 in 3rd, team started rolling!

9:09 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

Luka as soon as he pass the ball always wants to get it back. What a crocodile. GO play off ball!!!!

Can you add game sound back? I liked it best when you first started doing these with sound but the game sounds in the watchalongs keep going down and down to being almost nonexistent. Not sure if you're not allowed to or if it's a preference but to me the no game sound is not ideal.

Kinda hillarious that Clippers gonna beat Mavs in 1st round again. They are determined to ruin Lukas legacy :D His reputation gonna take a huge hit after they get swept.

I think you should add background music to make this more engaging 🎉

This game is a poster child for the importance of Offensive Versatility. People fussing about teams having multiple playmakers/strong options need to watch games like this.