This series can end in Game 6 with a win by the LA Clippers or it could lead to a winner-take-all Game 7 with a win by the Dallas Mavericks. Will the Clippers close out the series? Or will the Mavericks push this one to the limit? Check out our preview below.
Paul George had enough of the slander he’s been getting, especially online. The Clippers forward snapped out of his funk and scored 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field with four 3-pointers in Game 5’s 154-111 win against the Mavericks. George entered the ball game having scored just 34 points in the previous three games. With George apparently rediscovering his scoring touch, the Clippers are hoping he’ll pick up where he left off when they host the Mavericks on Thursday. Kawhi Leonard, meanwhile, complemented George with 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor. George and Leonard picked apart Dallas’s toothless defense that allowed the Clippers to shoot 63.1 percent from the field. When both Leonard and George are clicking, the Clippers are especially hard to beat, considering that the two also play elite defense. Leonard is leading the Clips in the playoffs with 32.8 points per game.
The Clippers are 9-1 against the spread in their last 10 games as the road team.
There’s no Luka Magic this time around for the Mavericks. Luka Doncic went just 6 for 17 from the field and finished with 22 points in Game 5’s loss to the Clippers. In Game 4, the Mavs didn’t seem to miss Porzingis much, but that was not the case in Game 5, as Doncic lacked that second star to help him carry the team. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 19 points, while Trey Burke scored 15 to provide scoring support, but the Mavericks lacked, at least, Porzingis’ presence on the other end of the floor. The Clippers repeatedly scored easily on the Mavericks. There is hope that Porzingis will suit up for Game 6, but the optimism isn’t too high as of the moment. Porzingis averaged 23.7 points on 52.5 percent shooting from the field and 52.9 percent shooting from deep. Perhaps the Mavs can change their starting unit a bit, as they have used the same first-five combo in the last two games which saw them fall behind by huge margins early.
