Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks Prediction, NBA Odds
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Edgar Chaput
Los Angeles is still navigating new waters, what with the necessity of integrating James Harden correctly into their game plan. It’s been a rough week as they lost to both the Knicks in New York and the Nets in Brooklyn. The Mavericks are also hoping to rebound from a loss as they couldn’t handle the Raptors at home on Wednesday. This is their second In-Season Tournament match and they lost the first.
The NBA odds have Dallas as a slight favourite. The Mavericks are currently pegged at -2.5.
Clippers vs. Mavericks NBA Betting Odds
When paired together the Clippers and Mavericks generally make for a good game of basketball. Over the past two seasons, eight games in total, L.A. and Dallas have shared the spoils at four games apiece. What’s more, five of those matches were decided by fewer than 10 points. It’s not a case of the home side defending its court every time, as each has claimed wins in the other’s arena during that span.
It’s unfair the be alarmed by the Clippers’ 3-4 start to the season or their 3-4 tally ATS. They’re dealing with the challenge of figuring out how Harden fits into their plans. It hasn’t looked great yet, but he’s only been with the team for less than two weeks. A bit more concerning is that they haven’t covered a single spread since his arrival, failing thrice in a row.
The Mavericks have started more brightly, compiling a 6-2 record in the Southwest Division, but only 4-4 ATS. It’s been topsy-turvy. Dallas took care of three out of the first four spreads to start but has only covered one of its last four. This is an offensive team with a meandering defence, thus the over connecting for a 6-2 record.
Los Angeles Clippers
Big projects can take time before they come to fruition. The Los Angeles Clippers are finding that out in this burgeoning James Harden era, especially with performances like the 100-93 loss to the Nets on Wednesday.
Tyronn Lue’s side took advantage of a lackadaisical Brooklyn in the first quarter, storming to a 21-13 lead. But from there the effort was laborious and a club that is typically quite good defensively got poached by a strong collected Nets effort. No one player on the other team blew them away (Lonnie Walker IV led with 21 points) but it was like death by a thousand paper cuts, or in this case seven different players hitting double-digits and another getting nine points. Harden himself, never the greatest defender, was a minus-15 on the night. Paul George did his best to keep the Clippers afloat with 24 points and Kawhi Leonard had a solid defensive performance, but the skeleton crew bench provided almost no support.
Dallas Mavericks
Wednesday’s game at home to the Toronto Raptors looked to have caught the Mavericks off guard. Dallas had started the season 6-1 and 3-0 at home but the Raptors took the game to them and walked off the court with a convincing 127-116 win.
Dallas’ strength is scoring. It has been for a few seasons already. As of this publication, they are fourth in the NBA with 120.1 points a night. But they also must score a lot because they concede 115 points a game. When the special touch isn’t there, it results in performances like the Raptors game. Toronto scored with ease in the paint, and more than once pounded juicy offensive rebounds with impressive flushes. A 72-40 advantage in that category sounds ludicrous, but those are the numbers Toronto put it. Derrick Jones Jr. had a good night in the paint though, performing a few slams of his own and finishing plus-11.
Luka Doncic finished with a team-high 31 but had a bad 2-for-10 three-point effort. No heroics from Kyrie Irving this time despite 22 points.
LAC
DAL