Game 6 of the Western Conference Playoff Series between the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks is set for Friday night. Dallas is coming into this game with a 3-2 series lead, and will look to end this series with a win on their home floor.
Los Angeles had a chance to take a 3-2 lead on their home floor, but they put together their worst performance of the entire series. The Clippers worked hard to get home court advantage in this series, but they are facing some adversity.
Dallas has now stolen home court advantage in this series, and they can’t afford to go back to Los Angeles for another game. The Mavericks suffered a loss in their last home game, but the crowd should be ready for this matchup.
The Dallas Mavericks are big 7.5-point betting favorites over the Los Angeles Clippers in this game on Friday night.
Clippers Must Make Shots
If the Clippers are going to extend this series by winning Game 6 then they are going to have to shoot the ball extremely well. Los Angeles shot just 25% from the three-point line in the Game 5 loss, and that’s not going to work.
Paul George and James Harden have to carry the load with Kawhi Leonard out of the lineup, but that duo had just 22 points combined in Game 5. It was a bad offensive game for the Clippers, and that’s been too common in this series.
The Clippers were a great defensive team throughout the regular season, but they just don’t have an answer for Doncic in this series.
Dallas Finally Defending
The knock on the Dallas Mavericks in recent years has been a lack of defense, but that hasn’t been the case this year. Dallas has held Los Angeles to 93 points or less in all three wins in this series, and they have clearly bought in.
There is a ton of size on this Dallas roster, and that size advantage has shown up on both ends of the floor. Dallas just scored 123 points in the Game 5 win, and they were able to get a ton of easy shots in the paint.
Doncic is averaging 30.2 points and 8.8 assists per game in this series, and he always seems to be in control of the action. Kyrie Irving has chipped in as well, but everything runs through the star point guard.
Mavericks Moving On
This has been a highly competitive series up to this point, but things started to get spread out in Game 5. The Clippers are simply dealing with too many injuries ahead of this game, and that is going to create some serious issues on the road in Game 6.
Luka Doncic has been able to do whatever he has wanted in this series, and he should have another monster game on Friday night. Los Angeles just doesn’t have the weapons to keep pace, and this game will get away from them in a hurry.
Bet the Dallas Mavericks to win and cover the 7.5 point spread in this game as they will move on to the Western Conference Semifinals.
