The Clippers have officially listed starting point guard Patrick Beverley as questionable for Thursday’s Western Conference semifinals Game 1 against the Nuggets, per Mark Medina of USA TODAY (Twitter link).
The veteran point guard has missed five straight games for Los Angeles with a nagging left calf injury. In his absence, the Clippers turned to second-year combo guard Landry Shamet, who started in four games against the Mavericks in their first-round series. As a starter, the former Wichita State standout averaged 11.5 PPG and shot 50 percent from three-point range.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was asked about Beverely’s potential return on Wednesday. “You’ll see him for sure (in the series),” he said (h/t Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN). “I’m pretty sure tomorrow (for Game 1), but I can’t guarantee that.” Los Angeles will be hoping that the defensive-minded point guard can slow down Denver’s dynamic point guard Jamal Murray.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said on Monday that point guard Rajon Rondo practiced and should be available in the second round. Rondo has not played a single game in the bubble due to a broken thumb, which he suffered in July.
- Eddie Sefko of Mavericks.com looked at three keys areas in which Dallas needs to improve at in the offseason. Sefko suggested that the Mavericks need an enforcer like Marcus Morris of the Clippers, who was a factor on the boards and gave Dallas fits in the first round. While they showed improvement from last season in the rebounding department, the Mavs were outrebounded by three rebounds per game in their first-round series versus Los Angeles, Sefko notes.
- Mavericks point guard J.J. Barea could possibly be playing overseas next season, according to Christian Santaella, who is a close friend of the 36-year-old. Santaella told elnuevodia.com that three teams from Liga ACB are interested in Barea’s services. The veteran point guard did not see significant playing time this season for Dallas, only averaging 15.5 MPG in 29 games.
Mavs need two 3D players
Sign or trade for Craig and Grant
Look at the points allowed in round 1:
Boston (100.5 PPG) – leads Toronto 2-0
Miami (100.75 PPG) – leads Milwaukee 2-0
Houston (104 PPG) – faces LA Lakers in round 2
Toronto (105.75 PPG) – down 0-2 vs. Boston
LA Lakers (106.6 PPG) – faces Houston in round 2
Milwaukee (107 PPG) – down 0-2 vs. Miami
Denver (113.4 PPG) – faces LA Clippers in round 2
LA Clippers (117 PPG) – faces Denver in round 2
The Rockets have the #1 rated defense in the playoffs.
All year long people kept saying who is going to guard LeBron/AD or Kawhi/PG13 when they play the Rockets. And they all laughed when I said it would be their two shutdown defenders: PJ Tucker and Robert Covington.
Mavs had Dwight Powell & WCStein injured, and Boban is famously nice.
Kleber being German is not really allowed to be vicious. (Because Nazis and all that. Well it is rough when Germans laugh at you, probably due to being usually right. Except for ex-USMNT coach Jergan Klinsmann, who’s an idiot. Can’t say that enough.)
The FO may have tried to address this already with Kidd-Gilchrist, but he did not do much. Andre Drummond is available but would require a lot of money. Maybe FO should recruit one of their own office harassers, though they may require the victims to be women.
Why do people love Drummond?? He is a zero on D, has no range offensively, and demands a lot of money! How is Drummond at 20 mil per year better than say Mcgee at 3 mil per??
Drummond did rank in the DPOY list… maybe 7th? I was surprised. He must impress players at court level.
Hard to say how much his next contract will be for, being a traditional 5.
An enforcer? This isn’t the 90’s.
I’ve been saying basically this for a while. The Mavs need an athletic strong front court player. Powell and Kleber both average less than 8 rebounds per 36 minutes. If Mavs had a Montrezl Harrel instead of Powell running the pick and slash to the hoop with Luka, the Mavs would be a lot better on offense and defense. The other thing the Mavs need to do is solidify the second team they build around KP…they might already have the players they need on the roster. That second team definitely needs guards who can score, a pg who can score.
They could use a gritty defender like Ibaka to snatch rebounds and defend the post. Perhaps this would allow Dallas to play Porzingis without worrying about his problems defending the pick and roll. If they wanted Kristaps to strictly play at power forward, Gasol could be an option as well. A healthy dose of veteran leadership could be a breath of fresh air on a rather young team
Mavs do need more physical players. NBA is physical especially in playoffs. Harrell would be great fit for them. But they are capped out. Mavs first need to make sure KP is going to be around.