Both the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers currently have a 5-game winning streak, but one of these teams' streaks will end after this match. The Dallas Mavericks have defeated strong teams in their last 5 games: Houston Rockets (137-123), Toronto Raptors (110-102), and San Antonio Spurs (117-110), while the Clippers have eked out victories in the final moments against the same Houston Rockets (122-119), Boston Celtics (107-104), and Oklahoma City Thunder (90-88).
Los Angeles Clippers
The long-awaited duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is finally gaining momentum and showing the potential to become the best duo in the entire NBA league. For one reason or another, the forwards couldn't play together at the start of the season, but now they are enjoying playing together and simply dominating on both ends of the court. In their last game against the New Orleans Pelicans, they scored 134 points and allowed just 109.
Overall, the potential of this team is simply incredible, as a team that made the playoffs in the strong Western Conference has added two superstars who play excellently on both ends of the court. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will undoubtedly be the first options in offense, but the team has more solid weapons: Lou Williams is showing great form at this stage of the season and will undoubtedly contend for the best sixth man title again, Montrezl Harrell is also having a great season, and Patrick Beverley is showing why he is valued in the league – ideal defense.
Only a few teams have managed to win the “board” against the Mavericks, but the Clippers rank 4th in the entire league in rebounds, so the Mavericks will not have their usual advantage in this area. The battle under the basket between Kawhi Leonard and Montrezl Harrell against Luka Dončič and Kristaps Porzingis will be really interesting and will largely determine the success of one team or the other.
In their recent games, the Mavericks have been attacking well from the field and playing fast and high-scoring basketball, so the Clippers will not only have to attack well themselves but also demonstrate ideal defense to stop the surging Mavericks players.
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Dallas Mavericks
Many are still amazed by the Mavericks' progress this season, but for those who have been following Luka Dončič and Kristaps Porzingis more closely, this team's progress raises no questions. In his first season, the MVP of the second strongest basketball league in the world demonstrated great statistics, and this season he is a TOP 3 candidate for the NBA regular season MVP title.
The strongest teams in the Western Conference were long considered to be the Clippers, Lakers, and Rockets, but the Mavericks are showing at least at the start of the season that they should not fall out of context. Especially considering that the second most important player on the team, nominal All-Star Kristaps Porzingis, is still playing limited minutes and is not 100% recovered from the injury that caused him to miss the entire last season.
The Mavericks will likely not abandon their fast-paced game based on Dončič's individual mastery, trying to create opportunities for others or shooting himself in this match, but unlike previous games, the Mavericks' accuracy will likely be lower than usual, as the Clippers have some of the most solid defenders in the league in every position. Moreover, the Mavericks are not known for good defense, and although they score a lot of points, they also allow quite a few, so if the offense stalls, the defense is unlikely to save them.
Prediction
The Dallas Mavericks have already won four games in a row at home, and in the last 2 games, they scored 142 and 143 points respectively against the Warriors and Cavaliers. Luka Dončič is playing at an MVP level, Porzingis complements him well, and the bench players also contribute. It would take an impressive performance from the other team to beat the Mavericks on the road, but if anyone can do it, the Clippers are undoubtedly one of those teams.
No one will dispute how impressive Luka Dončič looks this season, but in this match, he will have to play against 2 of the best “on-ball” defenders and a well-coordinated team defense. The Clippers have a much deeper bench, from which last year's best sixth man Lou Williams can come off and score a lot of points at any time and decide the outcome of the game.
It would be hard to believe that Luka alone could decide this game, as the Clippers are definitely not the Warriors or the Cavaliers, so for the Mavericks to win, both Dončič and the rest of the team would have to play an ideal game. Will that happen? – likely not.
The current odds for a Clippers win are 1.9, so we suggest taking advantage of that.
