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Jeremy Perry
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game 4 Prediction, Playoff Odds
The Los Angeles Clippers were finally able to pick up a win in this series against the Dallas Mavericks, taking Game 3 by a score of 118-108. The job to get even isn’t finished yet as Game 4 will be played at American Airlines Center on Sunday and Dallas still holds a 2-1 series lead. They could push the Clippers to the brink of elimination with a win here but if they fall short, this series is back to square one. Can the Clippers even up the series at two or will they stumble to another loss?
Clippers vs. Mavericks NBA Playoff Odds
The Clippers are just 2-5-1 ATS in their past eight games when coming into the matchup as the road favorite. Though they proved that they could flip the script on that trend last game when they picked up the win on the road as the favorite.
On the other hand, the Mavericks are 7-2 ATS in their last nine games when playing a team with a winning record. However, they are just 14-13 as an underdog this season and 15-12 ATS in those games.
Los Angeles Clippers
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were able to have strong performances in Game 3 and that’s what made the difference. Leonard dropped 36 while George added on 29 to help give their team the advantage. However, the biggest factor in this ball game was the effectiveness of their role players. Marcus Morris Sr. finally stepped up, adding 15 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field. Their defense was also effective, slowing the Mavs to just 108 points after they averaged 120.0 per game in the first two.
The Clippers aren’t out of the woods just yet as they lost both of their games at home, which means home court advantage is in favor of the Mavericks unless they can win a second game in Dallas. The one true issue for Los Angeles throughout this series has been their defense. They have absolutely no answer for Doncic but he appears to have a bum shoulder and he’s not getting consistent help from his teammates. If they can slow him down and the cast doesn’t step up, they should be able to even things out at 2-2.
Dallas Mavericks
Doncic just can’t be stopped right now. He dropped 44 points, nine rebounds and nine assists during their loss in Game 3. He was getting his way against any Clippers player that was set to guard him throughout the course of the matchup. However, their role players didn’t show up like they have the first two games. Kristaps Porzingis had yet another troublesome performance, scoring only nine points with just three rebounds in 34 minutes of action. He’s starting to get heavily trolled on Twitter and in basketball circles as he’s simply not performing as a credible second option
If Dallas wants to hold on and win this series, they desperately need somebody to step up and be their second scoring option whether it’s Porzingis or someone else. Tim Hardaway has done a nice job of that so far, but Porzingis will need to make himself a factor at some point. The pressure can’t just be on Doncic offensively.
LAC
DAL