‘Mavs won’t win another game.’ Barkley calls series for Clippers at the half of Game 4
The Dallas Mavericks were still leading the series but Charles Barkley had seen enough.
After the first half of Game 4 Sunday night in which the Los Angeles Clippers took a 16-point lead into the locker room, the outspoken commentator called the series.
“The Mavs are in trouble,” Barkley said during TNT’s halftime coverage. “The Mavs are not going to win another game. They’re going to lose four straight.”
The Mavs won the first two games of the best-of-7 first round series in Los Angeles, but they lost Game 3 Friday night back home at American Airlines Center and trailed big for most of Game 4.
The first two quarters were enough for Barkley to posit that the Clippers had found their mojo.
He also thought the Mavs have been relying too heavily on Luka Doncic, who played despite a neck injury that he sustained in Game 3. Dallas listed him as questionable before the game.
“We’ve been saying all year we think they rely too much on Luka,” Barkley said. “They’ll be having a fast break and they’ll slow it down and wait for Luka to come down.”
Barkley said personal experience leads him to believe the Mavs are toast. His Suns won the first two games of a playoff series in Houston in 1994 before blowing a 3-1 series lead.
“The Clippers are frontrunners,” he said. “I said Game 3 is a must-win [for the Mavs]. [Sunday’s game] is a must-win. Dallas is in trouble right now.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 10:22 PM.
