The Dallas Mavericks were able to hold the Clippers to just 93 points on 37% shooting to steal game 2 of this series, and now had back to Dallas with a chance to go up 2-1 against the 4-seed Clippers.
The Mavericks opened as a consensus 3.5-point favorite on Friday, and that number has already climbed to 5 points at several sportsbooks. The total opened at 210.5, but early action on the over has moved the number up to 213.5.
The win moved Dallas to 15-5 ATS over their last 20 games and 13-4 straight up over their last 17. The Clippers are just 1-4 ATS over their last 5, and 1-4 straight up over that stretch.
The Dallas defense remains the story, as the under has now cashed in each of their last 5 games and 7 of their last 8. Dallas' defense has been particularly good at home, where the under has been a reliable play throughout the season (25 of 41 games).
The first two games of this series played to an average total of just 197 points, with neither of the first two games reaching this line.
Westbrook has been a positive contributor for the Clippers this series as we head to Dallas for Game 3. The do-it-all guard is +17 overall and has shot over 40% from beyond the arc on 7 attempts. With Kawhi still not 100% yet and the Clips looking to take control of this series, expect Russ to play about 25 minutes for Ty Lue and hit the 16 PRA mark for the third time this series. He averaged well over this prop in three regular season games against the Mavs, including nearly 13 PPG.
Ty Lue and the Clippers will not live with Luka beating them with 40 points himself. However, they will be fine with another Mav beating them on the offensive end. Although Luka hasn’t reached the 10 assist mark in both games this series, look for home court advantage to change this. Doncic averaged 10 APG at home this season and with doubles due to come in the second half of this game, look for the star guard to find success driving and kicking.