The LA Clippers shocked the NBA world on Sunday afternoon when they decimated the Dallas Mavericks without Kawhi Leonard at home. LA led by as many as 29 points in a wire-to-wire win. With a win that is shocking, comes some very shocking takes.

After the game on Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley absolutely blasted the Mavericks. He immediately compared them to the Indiana Pacers, who also found themselves down over 20

“The Clippers are always going to play hard, they’re like the Miami Heat, they’re always going to play hard,” Barkley said. “Dallas to me, is in the same boat with the Pacers. They’re going to beat you offensively, they’re not great defensively when the offense is clicking, everything looks great – same thing with the Pacers.”

As the segment continued, Barkley doubled down on his comments against the Mavericks. He even went as far as to call the Mavericks frontrunners.

“You have to have a plan B, you can’t just say we’re going to win offensively and not play any defense,” Barkley said. “The Mavs, they’re frontrunners… they frontrunners, when things going good, they’re great. When things going back, anything bad can happen.”

As much as the Dallas Mavericks disappointed in Game 1, it’s way too early to criticize them at the level Charles Barkley is right now. It’s only Game 1 and anything can happen moving forward. In 2021 the Clippers lost their first two games at home to Dallas, then came back and won after being down 0-2.