The Los Angeles Clippers have turned things around in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks. With the series now tied, which team will win the pivotal Game 5 and grab the 3-2 lead? Check out our preview of this game below.
Maybe going back to Los Angeles would be a cure to the Mavs’ malaise. Dallas zoomed to a 2-0 series lead in the series with back-to-back wins at STAPLES Center in the early goings of this series but has now lost the last two to the Clippers. Obviously, that has a lot to do with the Mavs’ inability to contain the offensive surge of the Clippers. The Mavs also lost their shooting touch in Game 4, wherein they shot just 16.7 percent from deep. They never shot worse than 47 percent on their 3-point attempts in any of the first three games of the series. Another important thing to note about the Mavs is the health of Luka Doncic. The Slovenian superstar isn’t in serious danger of missing Game 5, but he’s dealing with a neck injury that’s slowing him down. Nevertheless, he had 19 points, six assists, and six rebounds in 36 minutes in Game 4. With Doncic not in 100% form, Kristaps Porzingis needs to step it up and prove he can take over this team when needed. He’s already played well in Game 4, scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, but he can definitely do more damage, especially if the Clippers continue starting a center-less lineup.
The Mavs are 4-0 against the spread in their last four games as a road underdog.
This is the Clippers team that everyone was terrified of facing in the playoffs. After lackluster performances in Games 1 and 2, Ty Lue’s Clippers woke up and smothered the Mavs in Games 3 and 4 to even things up. Los Angeles’ defense had the Mavs’ offense sputtering. After Dallas shot 54 percent from the field in the first two games of the series, the Mavs have failed to shoot better than 45 percent in each of the last two games. They even went 5 of 30 from deep in Game 4. Meanwhile, Paul George and Kahwi Leonard are getting down to work and having success offensively. It’s now the Clippers’ turn to expose and abuse Dallas’ defense, as they are shooting 50.8 percent from the field so far in the series. Leonard has been insanely good of late, as he’s averaged 32.5 points on an even crazier 75 percent shooting in the last two games. George, on the other hand, put up 24.5 points on 50 percent shooting in those games.
The Clippers are 5-1 against the spread in their last six home games against a team with a regular-season record better than .500.
