The Los Angeles Clippers didn’t have Kawhi Leonard for Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series vs. the Dallas Mavericks but still won. Kawhi was back for Game 2 and the Clippers lost. He will play in Game 3 on Friday as the series shifts to Dallas, which is favored on the NBA odds

2024 NBA Playoffs Expert Analysis LA Clippers at Dallas Game 3 | MyBookie NBA

How to Bet Clippers at Mavericks NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 8 PM ET
Where: American Airlines Center
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Mavericks -1.5 (total 51.5)

Why Bet on Los Angeles Clippers?

Despite the return of All-Star Kawhi Leonard from injury in Game 2, the Clippers were 96-93 home losers. Cleared to play for the first time since March 31, Leonard had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals but was missing his usual rhythm. Leonard shot 7-of-17 but missed all five of his 3-point attempts, the most without a make in the two-time Finals MVP’s playoff career.

“Just keep trying to get a rhythm back and obviously try to win a basketball game,” Leonard said his return. “We got pretty stagnant tonight in that fourth quarter. I want to just be able to get a rhythm with the team and get a win.”

Paul George had 22 points and four assists. The area where Leonard’s return impacted him was the shot attempts, with PG’s 14 being six fewer than his total in Game 1. He still shot 50% from the field and played 37 minutes despite some foul trouble. “Kawhi’s gonna find his rhythm,” said George. “And we’re gonna find our rhythm around him. We lost, but it is great having No. 2 back with us.”

James Harden logged 42 minutes and had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Ivica Zubac had 13 points and 12 rebounds. While Harden did not miss any of his 2-point attempts in Game 2, he was 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. He wasn’t the only Clippers player to struggle on Tuesday, as they combined to go 8-of-30 from beyond the arc, and Dallas outscored them by a 42-24 margin.

Norman Powell, one of the best sixth men in the NBA, had just six points off the bench on 2-for-10 shooting. Fellow guard Terrance Mann had just five points.

Tuesday’s game was a defensive struggle until the fourth quarter, with the Clippers in particular struggling to shoot with any sort of consistency. They finished the game 32-of-87 (36.8%) from the field and 8-of-30 (26.7%) from 3-point range, and the outing could have been worse had they not had a solid game when it came to turnovers (eight) and offensive rebounds (14). The Clippers finished the regular season sixth in the NBA in field goal shooting at 48.9 percent. Tuesday’s 36.8 was the lowest shooting percentage from the field for the Clippers this season.

“So offensively just being better, playing with more pace, getting into the paint a little bit more,” Coach Ty Lue said of what he wants to see with the offense on Friday night in Game 3. “We missed a lot of shots but as far as what we did defensively, I take that every day of the week. … To hold this team to 96 points, that’s a really great defensive night. We just got to do a better job of scoring the basketball.”

Why Bet on Dallas Mavericks?

The Mavericks played horribly out of the gate in losing Game 1 by 12 points but led most of Game 2 in the 96-93 victory. After going 0-8 during the regular season in games where they scored fewer than 100 points, the Mavericks picked up a much-needed victory to even the series at one game apiece. It was Maxi Kleber who stepped up and buried a cold-blooded three-pointer with 2:08 remaining Tuesday after receiving a pass from Luka Doncic that gave the Mavs some breathing room and an 87-81 lead. Doncic followed with a three-pointer of his own, and the Mavs were up 90-81 with 1:26 remaining.

“We played 48 minutes of physical basketball,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “Both teams were under 100. It was ’90s basketball at its best.”

Doncic played 46 of 48 minutes, scored 32 points with nine assists. After breaking a 74-all tie and putting the Mavericks up for good, he assisted on 3-pointers from Kyrie Irving, PJ Washington and Kleber. “A lot of stars coming down the stretch will ignore the double team and try to beat the double team,” said Kidd. “Luka understands the game and trusts his teammates.”

Doncic now has 19 games in his postseason career where he’s scored 30 or more points in his first 30 career playoff games, and 10 of those have come against the Clippers. We usually don’t talk about Doncic’s defense because he often does play much but in Game 2, the Clippers were just 2-of-17 from the field when Dončić was the primary defender. They also missed all 11 of their field goal attempts that were contested by Dončić, which is the second-most field goal tries contested in a playoff game without allowing a successful field goal during the past five years.

Irving finished with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. Washington also had some momentum-shifting moments for the Mavs. Washington scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including two free throws that gave Dallas a 92-86 lead with 34.3 seconds remaining.

Center Daniel Gafford (lower back soreness) played nine minutes without scoring Tuesday. Gafford appeared to tweak something in his back during the first quarter of Game 2, gingerly walking back to the locker room for further treatment. While Gafford did return, he only played nine minutes, with Dereck Lively II starting the third quarter. He finished with seven points and nine rebounds.

The Mavs also have an injury question for Game 3 on reserve guard Tim Hardaway, who played just six minutes in Game 2 before leaving with a right ankle sprain. Josh Green would see an uptick in playing time if Hardaway sits.

Clippers vs Mavericks Expert Prediction

Mavericks 113, Clippers 111