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The Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks have both won one-game a piece in this matchup as they look to battle it out tonight for the final time this regular season. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Clippers-Mavericks prediction and pick.
The Clippers are sitting comfortably in the 4th seed in the Western Conference with a record of 26-15 after beating the Mavericks two nights ago despite a terrible offensive showing from their All-Star Paul George.
The Mavericks hold an overall record of 20-18 and have caught fire as of late winning seven of their last ten. Luka Doncic and the Mavericks will look to come out strong and with more energy after a disappointing loss to the Clippers just two nights ago.
Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening Clippers-Mavericks odds.
NBA Odds: Clippers-Mavericks Odds
Los Angeles Clippers -3 (-105)
Dallas Mavericks +3 (-115)
Over 227 Points (-110)
Under 227 Points(-110)
Why The Clippers Could Cover The Spread
The two teams met just two nights ago in a close game until the final minutes of the 4th quarter when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were able to help their team pull away.
The Clippers saw contributions from the entire team and had seven guys score in double digits with great efficiency.
The team will need this level of play from their role players on a more consistent basis especially tonight if they want to pull out a win against the Mavericks tonight again. More importantly, the Clippers will need Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to continue anchoring both the offensive and defensive end as the team currently holds the 2nd best offensive rating in the league and allows the 6th least points from an opponent.
To cover the spread, the Clippers will need key role players like Lou Williams, Marcus Morris Sr., and Reggie Jackson to step up. Combined with a better offensive showing from Paul George, the Mavericks or any time will have a tough time stopping the Clippers.
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Why The Mavericks Could Cover The Spread
The Mavericks this season have dropped to the 13th best offense and as a team is allowing the 14th most points by the opposing team.
The team started to find their footing when their superstar Kristaps Porzingis returned from his injury but they still haven't met the high expectations everyone had for them this season.
While Luka Doncic has been ridiculously fantastic especially on the offensive end, the inconsistent play of the key role players, mainly Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jalen Brunson, are to blame for the unpredictable play and frankly struggles of the Mavericks as of late.
If these role players are able to take advantage on the offensive end where the opponents are so heavily focused on Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, the Dallas Mavericks can be a really tough team to stop.
Just look at the game against the Portland Trailblazers where Luka Doncic dropped 44 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds in a 3-point loss to the Blazers. To have a chance to cover the spread, the Mavericks will need more production and more energy from the main role players and players off the bench.
Final Clippers-Mavericks Prediction & Pick
This is the second game of a back-to-back between the Clippers and Mavericks. In the first game of this back-to-back, the Clippers won by 10 points despite a poor offensive performance from Paul George who only scored 15 points from 5 of 18 shootings and a field goal percentage of 27.8%. Surprisingly, we saw contributions from the rest of the team with 7-players scoring in double-digits with Kawhi Leonard leading the way with a great performance overall with 22 points, 7 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 steals.
As well as the Clippers are playing you still can't completely count out Luka Doncic and Kirstaps Porzingis for the Mavericks. The game will really come to down to which two stars can outperform the two stars on the other team and my money is with the stars on the Clippers who have not only shown more consistency but are also much more defensive minded which I have just not seen from Luka and Porzingis for the Mavericks.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION & PICK FOR CLIPPERS-MAVERICKS: LAC 112, DAL 105 (LAC -3)
