The Mavericks gained Sport 2 with their protection, particularly with their stars — Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving — placing effort in on that finish of the ground. It was a refreshing sight to see as Dallas held L.A. beneath 100 factors and evened up the collection after an embarrassing blowout loss to open the collection.

“Clearly, it was a must-win and everyone was locked in,” P.J. Washington stated after the win. “They punched us within the mouth in Sport 1, and we simply needed to reply.”

Dallas now hosts the subsequent two video games and has a possibility to take management of the collection beginning with Sport 3 Friday night time.

Here is what to know forward of Sport 3:

Mavericks at Clippers — Sport 3

• Date: Friday, April 26 | Time: 8 p.m. ET
• Location: American Airways Middle — Dallas
• TV channel: ESPN | Stay stream: fubo (strive without spending a dime)
• Odds: Mavericks -4.5; O/U 212.5

Storylines

Mavericks: Apart from the stingy protection Dallas performed, the Mavericks additionally obtained much better manufacturing from Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. Washington put up 18 factors on 5 of 10 from the ground, together with 3 of 4 from deep, and Jones tacked on 10 factors. That is large for Dallas and an enormous purpose why this workforce was so profitable in closing the season. The Mavs will want them to maintain that up going ahead on this collection to have an opportunity as a result of we noticed in Sport 1 that it could’t simply be Doncic and Irving doing all of the heavy lifting.

Clippers: The most important key to the Clippers success will probably be Kawhi Leonard, who returned in Sport 2. You may inform he wasn’t absolutely snug on the ground, however certainly he’ll spherical into kind because the collection carries on. L.A. will want Leonard to get snug at a faster tempo, although in an effort to keep away from falling behind on this collection. Leonard is the game-changer on this collection for the Clippers, they usually’ll want him acting at a excessive stage on each ends to restrict Dallas’ stars from going off.

Prediction

The Mavericks appeared to get up in Sport 2, and with the protection they’re taking part in it makes issues more durable for the Clippers. I feel with taking part in at dwelling the offense will come alive for the primary time on this collection, and so long as Doncic and Irving keep locked in defensively, the Mavericks have a recipe for fulfillment in Sport 3. The Choose: Mavericks -4.5