The no. 7 seed Dallas Mavericks threw the favourites book out of the window by outplaying no. 2 seed Los Angeles Clippers in the second game of the first-round playoff series in the Western Conference. The teams are now tied 1-1 with the third match holding all the aces in deciding the momentum of the series.
Luka Doncic with 28 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists led the charge for the Mavericks as a 47-point performance from the bench lifted Dallas in the second match of the series. Doncic now has 70 points from his first two career playoff games breaking the NBA record previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That said, the Mavs showed good improvement all over and kept the offense going. Additionally, there were excellent improvements defensively and the Mavs will be hoping to restrict the Clippers once again.
Wednesday night proved to be a poor outing for the Clippers as most of the players failed to turn up. Paul George, Marcus Morris, and Kawhi Leonard combined for 75 points in Game 1 of the series and 63 points in Game 2 – underlining their status as matchwinners for the Clippers. However, George went missing in the second game going just 4-of-17 from the field. The Clippers missed the defensive presence of Patrick Beverley in Game 2, but he’s likely to return and provide them a much-needed muscle in the defence.
Los Angeles Clippers got a taste of Dallas Mavericks’ strength in the second match, as the favourites were brought back down to earth. However, it is tough to envisage a repeat from the Mavs, especially with the Clippers boasting of big names like Kawhi Leonard, Marcus Morris, and Paul George. We are backing the Clippers to get back to winning ways and are backing them with a spread of -5.0 – that is, expecting them to win by at least a six-point margin.