“He OWNS them!” Charles Barkley reacts to Luka Doncic facing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in first-round playoffs

Charles Barkley is the harshest critic of the Clippers players on TNT's Inside the NBA.

“He OWNS them!” Charles Barkley reacts to Luka Doncic facing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in first-round playoffs

Luka Doncic, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard

The NBA regular season is ending, and the playoffs are officially around the corner with its first draw already on the cards, the Dallas Mavericks taking on long-time rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, their third meeting since 2018. The crew of TNT’s “Inside the NBA” were analyzing the meet-up when Charles Barkley responded to a comment made by Shaquille O’Neal.

Chuck, who has been taking it easy with the Clippers lately, shocked the crew and even those following the commentary when he said Luka Doncic “owns them.” He believed that the highest the Clippers’ star duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George can do is to slow the Slovenian down. 

And I'mma disagree because, for some reason, with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, they gon slow Luka down, but he owns them. The numbers he been getting against them... I been on the Clippers bandwagon all year... I never know which Clippers team is gonna show up.
Charles Barkley said

However, while Barkley has his points siding with Doncic and the Mavericks, the Mavs have a strong chance this season of upsetting the Clippers due to the postseason form of Kyrie Irving, whose combination with Doncic has made them a real offensive threat. Kai, in the post-season, has averaged 23.3 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 74 playoff games, and according to Doncic, he knows how to win a championship.

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However, the Clippers, based on recent performances, have edged out the Mavericks the last two times they met in the playoffs, so they should be favored based on their head-to-head record. But things have changed this time as the dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving has precisely what it takes to upset the odds.

Charles Barkley once called the LA Clippers the scariest team in the Western Conference

Earlier this year, when the Clippers were steamrolling teams, and it seemed like the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George-James Harden experiment was beginning to work, Barkley called the team everyone needs to be afraid of the most.

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The scariest team in the West is the Los Angeles Clippers. Kawhi Leonard is amazing. If he’s healthy, he’s one of the five best basketball players in the world. If he didn't get hurt, they would have beat the Suns.
Charles Barkley said in January this year

However, a lot has changed since then, as Barkley appears to have backpedaled and has become one of their staunchest critics. The Clippers are making amends to get out of the shadow of their most illustrious neighbors, the Los Angeles Lakers, but first, they must overcome the re-energized Dallas Mavericks.

This season, they have a 51-29 record, are first in the Pacific division, and have won 11 out of their last 15 games. With two games left to close the curtain to the regular season, defeating the Mavericks and putting Chuck to shame rest entirely on them.

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