Two teams that took the opportunity to rest key players in different ways on the final weekend of the regular season should be fully refreshed Saturday afternoon when the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks visit the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in their Western Conference playoff opener.
The Clippers (47-25) had a five-game edge in this season’s final standings, but the Mavericks (42-30) won the season series 2-1, setting up a rematch of a tightly contested 2020 first-round series in the bubble that was won by Los Angeles 4-2.
The Mavericks may have taken out some of their frustration in this year’s first meeting in December, recording a 124-73 shellacking of the Clippers on t…
Keep on reading: Mavericks and Clippers tip off first round series in L.A.