Luka Doncic is a problem

Okay… we already knew Luka Doncic was a real and legit MVP candidate, even though the Mavericks are not the best team in the NBA, but the performance he had in Game 1 on Saturday was as good as the Mavericks could have hoped for! 

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Between making plays for his teammates, driving to the rim with strength and being able to finesse his way to 5 made three-pointers, Luka Doncic was sensational and he is going to have to continue playing like this to give Dallas a great chance to win this series. 

Kristaps Porzingis did not have a good game in this one, but it did not matter because Luka Doncic made up for his lack of production on the offensive-end of the court and he also got Dorian Finney-Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. involved in this game early on. 

Finney-Smith scored 18 points on 4-5 shooting from deep and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points on 5-9 shooting from deep. Most of the Mavericks’ three-point opportunities came on kick-outs from Doncic, which is why his impact was greater than just scoring. 

It should be interesting to see how the Clippers guard Luka Doncic in Game 2 of this series, but if Game 1 told us anything, it is that Doncic is a real problem and the Clippers cannot relax and not focus-in on him defensively.