Clippers Move to -1050 Favorites to Win Series vs Mavericks Clippers After Game 3 Victory

• Los Angeles Clippers stormed to a Game 3 victory to take a 2-1 lead over the Dallas Mavericks
• Luka Doncic limped off the court with a sprained ankle and his availability for the remainder of the series is uncertain
• The Clippers have moved to overwhelming favorites to win the series 

Game 3 is huge in any series. It felt particularly important between the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, who had played out two great games to go into Game 3 tied up.

The Clippers ran out victorious in Game 3, led by a massive game from Kawhi Leonard. Most importantly, though, Luka Doncic turned his ankle and could miss the remainder of the series. More news on Doncic’s injury is expected on Saturday.

The Los Angeles Clippers vs Dallas Mavericks odds have favored them throughout this series. Their Game 3 win saw their odds to win the series shorten dramatically.

Los Angeles Clippers vs Dallas Mavericks Series Odds

Odds taken August 22.

Dallas’ Porous Defense

The Mavericks couldn’t contain the Clippers on Friday. Their super-powered offense might be historic, but the defensive end has been far less impressive throughout this season. For much of Game 3, the Clippers could get wherever they wanted, they were creating open shots and finding it far too easy to drive into the paint.

The Clippers shot 52.2% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range for the game.

Maxi Kleber was punished in mismatches and Tim Hardaway was blown by all too frequently. Miscommunication was common, allowing the Clippers to move the ball for an open three.

Doncic is frustrated after trying to fight through a left ankle sprain. Prayers up 🙏

He’s out for the rest of the game pic.twitter.com/S8aslvHxbZ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 22, 2020

Seth Curry worked hard on the defensive end and had another great scoring night, though that was not matched by Trey Burke, who was a passenger on defense. With Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith shooting a combined 1-for-9 from deep, the Mavs had no balance to their lineups on Friday.

To be fair, Leonard was spectacular, and no team will be able to stop him when he’s playing like that. Dallas were unable to slow down others on the Clippers roster, however, and that’s a much greater concern. The Clips were a threat on the offensive boards throughout, and the Mavs allowed Ivica Zubac to rack up plenty of easy points. He finished with 15 and Landry Shamet scored 18. Shamet was able to beat the Mavs’ perimeter defenders off the dribble with ease.

The Mavericks are going to face the same challenge the Rockets did starting around 2013 — they've got to upgrade their defense around their stars without sacrificing their ability to hit open threes.

— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) August 22, 2020

Some of these struggles are down to personnel. The Mavericks aren’t going to win games on their defense, but they need better effort and organization.

Beverley, Doncic Injured

Doncic’s injury is obviously huge. At the time of writing, there’s uncertainty over the severity. It looked very bad initially, and the decision to return to the court was questionable, though Rick Carlisle said after the game that he didn’t worsen the injury. Dallas have had some great wins without Doncic this year, but they need him on the court if they are to stand any chance of overturning the deficit in this series.

It’s not only Carlisle with injury concerns. Although clearly not as series-altering as Doncic, Doc Rivers is currently without Patrick Beverley, who is suffering from a calf problem that has troubled him throughout his time in Orlando.

Luka Doncic: “It’s not that bad. Honestly, I had luck that it was my left ankle. It’s not my right” that he sprained twice earlier this season.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) August 22, 2020

Landry Shamet took Beverley’s place in the starting lineup on Friday, and played well at both ends, but there will be games, or periods within a game, when the Clips will miss Beverley’s hustle and defense. There’s no timetable for Beverley yet – his absence could be significant if Doncic returns.

George’s Struggles

Paul George has been feisty in Orlando, but his on-court play hasn’t backed it up in this series. He’s shot 7-for-33 over the last two games, posting just 11 points in Game 3. The Clippers have the offensive firepower to make do – seven players scored in double figures in Game 2 – but this isn’t the first time George has struggled in the playoffs. If Leonard has a rare off-game at some point in this series, the Clippers will need George to step up and there’s little sign of him doing that at the moment.

George has been missing open threes (he went 1-for-8 from downtown on Friday) and has turned it over seven times in this series.

Paul George is in a 7-for-33 slump over last 2 games. After finishing with 11-9-7, he says he tries to impact both ends. "I'm no James Harden. That's not my knack…to just shoot [and] score the ball. I can and pride myself on being effective on both ends" https://t.co/lKsmpgKgJS

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) August 22, 2020

As he pointed after Game 3, he has been effective defensively and has moved the ball well, but the Clippers are much more beatable when they are so dependent on Leonard scoring 30+.

Wait For Doncic News

It’s impossible to make any judgement about this series until we know more about Doncic’s ankle. His quotes after Game 3 suggest a more positive outlook than it appeared when he hopped to the locker room, and perhaps that will tempt some bettors to back the Mavericks at +630. That price will come down if Doncic is confirmed as available for Sunday’s Game 4.

Charles Barkley on TNT halftime:

"Porzingis and Doncic are not backing down. I love this, man. You know they're trying to bully them, and they're standing up to the bully. … Dallas got a bright future, man."

— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) August 22, 2020

What was poised to be an epic first round series will become much less competitive if Doncic is out. The Clippers are -140 to win 4-1.

Dallas were great in the first two games, and could easily have gone 2-0 up. Even if Doncic is out or playing through pain, they could easily take another game. The +220 for this to be a six-game series looks a good bet.