NBA Playoffs 2023/24, 1st round, Game 3, Saturday, 27.04.2024
On Saturday night, the evenly matched first round series between the Clippers and the Mavericks will go down to the wire for the first time in Dallas. The best basketball entertainment is guaranteed in this star-studded clash
For the third time in four years, the LA Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks will face off in the upcoming NBA playoffs.
The Angel Cities won the first-round series in 2020 (4-2) and 2021 (4-3).
LAC qualified for the postseason in fourth place in the West with a 51-31 record (only the sixth 50-win season in franchise history).
Where this year’s Mavericks are by far the best version of the Doncic era (fifth in the West at 50-32)!
The Mavericks narrowly overturned a 2-0 series deficit in downtown Los Angeles with a tight 96-93 win on Wednesday night.
After a weak offensive performance in Game 1, the Texans recovered and were able to convert a strong 14/33 (42.4%) of their three-pointers.
The Clippers, who made just 26.7% of their threes, were otherwise on a par in more or less all relevant team stats.
And only the third quarter was decided by a difference of more than five points
Meanwhile, the return of LAC superstar Kawhi Leonard after an almost month-long injury layoff was, unsurprisingly, unspectacular.
Kawhi scored 15 points, seven rebounds and a promising four steals.
The health and fitness of the two-time Finals MVP could tip the scales in this extremely balanced series.
Meanwhile, one of the perhaps somewhat unexpected X-factors in Game 2 was German big man Maxi Kleber, who, as in Game 1 (+6), had a positive +/- (+9) and hit an important three-pointer in crunch time.
German basketball world champion Daniel Theis has, quite surprisingly, not yet had a taste of the play-off air with the Clippers.
The German world champion had actually established himself as a valuable backup center with 6.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.9 blocks and a decent three-point percentage of 37.1 % in the regular season.
In the Clippers’ favor tonight is the fact that they were able to win the third games of the last two (and only) playoff series against the Mavericks in Dallas.
Against this background, I find the clear starting position for the Mavs in the best sports betting apps (odds of 1.53 : 2.55) somewhat surprising.
On the other hand, the Mavericks can “only” count on two (Doncic and Irving) instead of four future Hall-of-Famers (Kawhi, George, Harden, Westbrook), but with MVP candidate Doncic they can count on the best player of the series.
Although the Slovenian only managed a shooting percentage of 42.3% in the first two games, he really took Game 2 by storm with important assists and the Dagger three-pointer over James Harden.
Meanwhile, there could well be a diffusion of responsibility between LAC stars Kawhi, PG13 and Harden.
Speil 3 between the Texan mavericks and the Californian cargo sailors offers some promising betting opportunities.
I even found it difficult to decide on a Mavericks Clippers tip!
As in Game 2, I expect a nailbiter tonight that should be exciting until the last minute.
LAC head coach Tyronn Lue, who is considered one of the best coaches in the league (which he has over counterpart Jason Kidd), should take some precautions to get both perimeter defense and offense back on track.
After all, Lue is considered one of the best coaches when it comes to making decisive changes and tricks in long playoff series
In addition, LAC superstar Kawhi should have a bigger positive impact on the Clippers game than in the last match!
Also, keep in mind that the Angels have won six of their last seven away games and two of their last three playoff games in Dallas!
For the reasons mentioned, I expect a wafer-thin Clippers defeat at best and recommend the handicap bet “Clippers with +5.5. ”
is my Mavericks Clippers prediction for today: Tip 2 with HC +5.5!
