The Golden State Warriors host the Dallas Mavericks for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Mavericks-Warriors prediction & pick.

 

The Mavericks surprised the entire world when they knocked off the NBA's top team during the regular season in the Phoenix Suns. The Suns dominated the entire league and were the only team that had 60+ wins. The Suns even had an eight-game advantage over the next best team in the Memphis Grizzlies… who the Warriors eliminated.

Luka Doncic vs. Steph Curry will be an extremely exciting matchup to watch this next week. There will be a lot of offensive production from those two, but do not forget that these two teams ranked second (Dallas) and third (GS) respectively in defensive points allowed this season, behind the Boston Celtics. The defensive pressure from both teams will be something to watch this series because a majority of the fans will be wanting to see Luka vs Steph all night long. That may happen, but if you see some strong defense being played, don't be surprised.

Here are the Mavericks-Warriors NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NBA Playoffs Odds: Mavericks-Warriors Odds

Dallas Mavericks: +5.5 (-110)

Golden State Warriors: -5.5 (-110)

Over: 214.5 (-110)

Under: 214.5 (-110)

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Why The Mavericks Could Cover The Spread

The Mavericks will want to order some more of that Luka Special if they want to cover this spread on the road tonight. This spread is big enough to where the Mavs are a solid pick here. A lot of people are putting their money on the Warriors to win the series and even the NBA Finals in June. Although that may be the likely scenario, the Mavericks just took down what many considered to be the best team in the NBA this season.

Down 3-2 in the series, Luka flipped the script and led the Mavs past the Suns … but not after some drama. Things got heated between Doncic and some of the players on the Suns. Who knows what really happened but it seemed like Luka took something personally. That fire in his head set off a trigger to go on full-attack mode.

In Game 6, Lula scored 33 to beat the Suns by 27 points. Now, Game 7 is where things got crazy. The Suns didn't even show up and the Mavs destroyed them thanks to Luka's 27 points at halftime … the same amount of points the Suns had all half. Dallas led by about 50 at one point as the Suns gave up.

I'm not saying that Luka will need to take something personally in order for their success to increase, but I am saying that if there happens to be some drama in this series … give me Luka.

Why The Warriors Could Cover The Spread

The Warriors are the favorites at home tonight and that is the right call. The Dubs didn't lose a single home game in the series with the Grizzlies. They advanced after what ended up being a tougher series against Memphis. Ja Morant left the series early with a knee injury but that didn't stop the Grizz from stealing Game 5 in Memphis. The Grizzlies actually destroyed the Warriors by 39 points in what was a blowout from the beginning. The Warriors better hope that they don't have a game like that again this postseason.

They will have a tough test in dealing with a hot Luka Doncic right now. Who knows what he could do in terms of leading the Mavs. Luka could very well continue his amazing run of success and steal a win in Golden State within the first two games. If the Mavs are able to steal home court from the Warriors … that would be a huge flip in the script.

Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, and Draymond Green will all be the main factors in this series. If those four are on their game then I can't see the Mavericks upsetting them in any of these games. I assume this series will be close because of their elite defenses, but as mentioned earlier, don't be surprised if it turns out to be a lower-scoring game than imagined.

Final Mavericks-Warriors Prediction & Pick

The Warriors are the call for tonight. They have had a little more rest than the Mavericks have had because of their game played on Sunday. That rest seemed to benefit the Miami Heat last night. With that and home court, take the Warriors to cover this spread and win this game by at least six points.

Final Mavericks-Warriors Prediction & Pick: Golden State Warriors -5.5 (-110)