Mavericks 2024 Playoff Schedule: Every playoff game (updated)

The NBA Playoffs are wide open, especially in the Western Conference, where 11 teams finished .500 or better. The Denver Nuggets are the defending champs, but Nikola Jokic and company failed to earn the conference's top seed after a shocking late-season loss to the San Antonio Spurs. That honor instead went to MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Dallas Mavericks have an MVP contender of their own in Luka Doncic. They've also been one of the best teams in the entire league for well over a month, having won 16 of 18 to close the season before resting Doncic and Kyrie Irving in two meaningless losses last week. Now they'll match up with the fourth-seeded L.A. Clippers in the first round.

Doncic and Irving have carried the load in leading the Mavericks to the Southwest division title. The dynamic duo have combined for just under 60 points per game, but the true reason for Dallas' late-season surge has been its defense, which has been the best in the league since early March.

The Mavericks are hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2020-21 season when they also won the Southwest division and earned the No. 5 seed in the West. That team also faced the Clippers to start the playoffs, but for the second year in a row, the Mavs were knocked out of the first round at the hands of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Leonard's status is currently unknown for this series, as he's missed the last eight games with knee inflammation.

Mavericks 2024 playoff schedule: Every game's date, start time, and TV channel

Below is the full first-round schedule for the Mavericks' series against the Clippers:

• Game 1: at Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday, Apr. 21, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
• Game 2: at Los Angeles Clippers, Tuesday, Apr. 23, 10:00 p.m. ET, TNT
• Game 3: vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, Apr. 26, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
• Game 4: vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday, Apr. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
• Game 5 (if necessary): at Los Angeles Clippers, Wednesday, May 1, TBD, TBD
• Game 6 (if necessary): vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, May 3, TBD, TBD
• Game 7 (if necessary): at Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday, May 5, TBD, TBD

The Mavericks and Clippers will begin their series on Sunday, April 21st at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The teams will play two there before shifting to American Airlines Center in Dallas for Games 3 and 4. If necessary, the series will then alternate each game, with Games 5 and 7 in L.A. and Game 6 in Dallas.

Whichever team advances from the Mavs-Clippers series will face either the No. 1 seed Thunder or the No. 8 seed, which at the time of this writing could be the New Orleans Pelicans or Sacramento Kings.

Be sure to keep checking this space to keep up to date, as we'll be updating this article as more information becomes available.