Dallas (0-1) vs LA Clippers (1-0)
When: Wednesday, August 19th, 2020
Where: AdventHealth Arena,
Orlando, Florida
Time: 9:00 ET | TV: TNT
Opening Odds: Los Angeles -6/231
After an exciting Game 1 on Monday night, the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers look to take a 2-0 lead over the No. 7 Dallas Mavericks in their best-of-7 NBA Western Conference playoff series on Wednesday. It will be the last of four more games for the day and the Clippers opened up as 6-point favorites with a total set at 231. L.A. was a 6-point favorite in Game 1 and was able to cover the spread in the end, as did all four favorites on Monday. Kawhi Leonard’s free throws with about eight seconds left sealed the cover. Dallas then missed a long 3-pointer before time expired. The Mavericks have failed to cover the past five meetings, but have the fire-power to keep things close. Dallas is 2-5 ATS in their past seven as underdogs, while the Clippers are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games overall.
Luka Doncic was the best player on the floor in Game 1 with 42 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals, but it’s tough to win when you personally turn the ball over 11 times. He is one of only four players – Magic Johnson, LeBron James (twice) and Tracy McGrady – to score 40 points at the age of 21 or younger in an NBA postseason game. He didn’t get much help, and the refs made it tough when they ejected the team’s second-best player, Kristaps Porzingis, for picking up his second technical foul. Porzingis had the advantage underneath against Leonard, Montrezl Harrell, and Ivica Zubac. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry combined for 32 points with eight threes between them on Monday.
Doncic overshadowed a terrific game from Leonard, who recorded 29 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals in his Clippers playoff debut. Paul George added 27 points, Marcus Morris had 19 points and six rebounds and helped play good defense on Doncic. Guards Patrick Beverley and Landry Shamet were both questionable coming into Game 1, but both played. Harrell played his first game since the restart due to the death of his grandmother, and contributed six points in 15 minutes. The Clippers outscored Dallas by 13 after the Porzingis ejection, going from five points down to the eight-point victory. Despite allowing a lot of points, the Clippers forced the Mavericks to turn the ball over 21 times and scored 22 points off those miscues.
This game would have turned out differently if Porzingis wasn’t ejected. After a slow start, the Mavericks really hung with L.A. thanks to the incredible Doncic. I’m taking the points again in this one.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today. He is on a 7-0 Run!
Pick: Mavericks +6.5
