The Dallas Mavericks are on the brink of elimination after a brutal 109-100 Game 3 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night. Luka Doncic had another explosive night, dropping 40 points with 11 rebounds and three assists. But his efforts were simply not enough to overcome a team effort from the Warriors led by Stephen Curry's 31 points and 11 rebounds, plus Andrew Wiggins' playoff career-best 27 points and 11 rebounds.
No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 series deficit in a best-of-seven. But Dallas will look to fight another day in order to send the Western Conference Finals back to San Francisco for a Game 5. Ahead of Tuesday night’s game, here are three Mavericks bold predictions for Game 4 against the Warriors.
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Mavericks Predictions for Game 4 vs. Warriors
1. Luka Doncic will score below 30 points, but he will dish out 10+ assists
Luka Doncic has scored 40 or more points over the last couple of games for the Mavericks. You'd think Dallas will need those kinds of performances from the superstar guard to win a game. But so far, that recipe hasn't worked for the Mavericks at all this series. In fact, Dallas is 0-3 in these playoffs with Doncic scoring at least 40.
In addition, Doncic has yet to have a double-digit assist game this series. That very well could be due to the rest of the team's inability to knock down shots.
The first three games of this series has shown that the Slovenian can't win a game alone. The Mavericks will need every single player to have their A-game, similar to what they did in Game 7 vs. the Phoenix Suns. What better game for them to replicate that than in a game where they must avoid the embarrassment of getting swept. That should give them a little motivation to leave it all on the floor.
Doncic could look to dial down the scoring mode and involve his teammates more to get them going. With that, the three-time All-Star won't breach the 30-point plateau, but he will notch double-digit assists for just the second time in this postseason.
2. Dallas will make 20+ 3-pointers, with Maxi Kleber and Reggie Bullock making 10 3s combined
In connection to the prediction above, Dallas will make over 20 3-pointers in Game 4. Specifically, Maxi Kleber and Reggie Bullock will make at least 10 triples combined after struggling mightily on Sunday.
Kleber shot 46.4 percent from 3-land in the conference semifinals against the Suns, but he has bottomed out in this round against Golden State. Through three games, the German has made just two of his 14 3-point attempts for an abysmal 14.3 percent. The stretch big has to break out of his funk at some point, and that will happen in this do-or-die Game 4 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Bullock was absolutely atrocious in Game 3 after dropping 21 points the previous outing. The 31-year-old 3-and-D wing laid an egg on Sunday, missing all of his seven triple tries and going 0-of-10 from the field overall. We predict that Bullock will have a bounce-back game in Game 4 and make at least five 3-pointers to help keep Dallas' season alive.
3. Mavs will send this to a Game 5
With the “others” finding a rhythm offensively and Dallas cooking from downtown, there is a good chance for the Mavericks to send this back to San Francisco for a Game 5. The Warriors could very well smell blood in the water, but they could still enter this game with a little room for comfort knowing they still have a chance to close the series on their home floor, where they are 8-0 in the postseason.
Given that, the Mavs could catch the Warriors by surprise by punching them in the mouth early and never letting them recover, perhaps similar to the way the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 5 of the previous round. This probably won't turn into a 55-point blowout at any point, but Dallas will win by a comfortable margin to salvage its image at least a little bit.
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