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Jeremy Perry
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game 6 Prediction, Playoff Odds
The Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Clippers series took another bizarre turn. After the Clippers won both games in Dallas and stole momentum, the Mavs were able to answer right back. Dallas took a 3-2 series lead against the Clippers, behind a stellar performance from their superstar guard Luka Doncic in Game 5 on Wednesday. Doncic posted 42 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds in 43 minutes to lead his team to victory on the road. The road team has won every single game in this series so far, but the Mavericks have a chance to break that streak in Game 6. Will they be able to close out this series at home, or will the Clippers force a Game 7?
Clippers vs. Mavericks NBA Playoff Odds
L.A. is a 2.5-point favourite to win on the NBA odds with a total of 216.5.
The Clippers are 4-1 against the spread in their past five games played on one day of rest. They Clippers were 15-7 straight up in the regular season after an upset loss as a favourite.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are 5-0 ATS in their past five games at home when playing against a team that has a greater winning percentage of .600 on the road. They are just 15-14 as an underdog this season and 16-13 ATS in those games.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers just didn’t get enough out of their superstars in order to win Game 5. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George each had pedestrian games with 43 points combined on 14-29 shooting from the field. The numbers don’t look horrible, but the Clippers trailed almost the entire way through and Kawhi air-balling the game-tying shot at the buzzer says a lot. The whole team shot just 41 per cent from the field and 36.8 per cent from beyond the arc. Flipping over to the defensive end, they didn’t have any answer for Doncic, who got to his spot almost every time he touched the basketball. If the Clippers want to force a Game 7 in this series, stopping Doncic should be their number one priority.
Dallas Mavericks
Outside of Doncic, this team had a lot of trouble creating for themselves. Kristaps Porzingis, yet again, didn’t make much of an impact in this ball game as he ended with just eight points and six rebounds in 30 minutes of action. If this Dallas team has hopes of making a deep playoff run, Porzingis is going to have to contribute more. It was Tim Hardaway Jr. who stepped up in a big way, pouring in 20 points as well as some clutch shots down the stretch. The challenge is, this team has played very poorly at both ends of the court at home. Can they flip that around this time?
The Mavericks have a great chance to end this series in front of their home crowd in Game 6, but it’ll take a great game from Doncic, some help from the supporting cast and some solid defence to usher the Clippers out of the playoffs.
LAC
DAL