NBA Playoffs: Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors Game 5 Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Golden State Warriors are one win away from the NBA Finals and another West title. Steve Kerr and his boys need to beat the Dallas Mavericks to clinch the sixth conference title in the last eight years and attack the fourth NBA title in the same span. Though, the Mavs have nothing to lose and come to the Bay Area determined to give their best. They have no pressure, as the majority of the fans and the analysts already see them eliminated. It is up to Luka and the rest of the team to force at least one more game and extend the hope.

Preview

Dallas Mavericks (+250) won Game 4 not because of Luka but because of their other players, who aren’t key figures on the floor. Dorian Finney-Smith, Reggie Bullock, and Maxi Kleber were in the middle of this one, as they finally showed up against the Warriors, neutralizing their offensive versatility and pressuring GSW’s role players.

This trio dropped 54 points in Game 4, which hasn’t been the case before in this series. Finney-Smith had 23 buckets, Reggie Bullock scored 18 all
behind the three-point line, while Maxi Kleber ended the night with 13. By the way, they combined for 12 threes.

Doncic had 30 points, 14 boards, and nine assists and was very close to a triple-double. Besides Luka, Jalen Brunson had 15 with five boards and dimes, while Spencer Dinwiddie ended the night with 10 buckets.

Golden State Warriors (-320) made only 10 threes in this event, shooting 35.7% from downtown. It is the biggest reason their offense didn’t look as sharp as in the previous games. On the other side, they had no solution for the Mavericks’ role players and when you combine these two factors, the outcome is pretty much obvious.

Steph Curry scored 20 points with eight assists, Jonathan Kuminga added 17 off the bench, and Jordan Poole had 14, also off the bench. Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson ended the night with 13 and 12 buckets, respectively.

The entire Warriors’ unit was without energy, and they were flat from the tip-off until the end. Maybe they didn’t expect to see the Mavericks in such good shape on the offensive end, but nevertheless, this was one of their worst performances of the year.

Head to Head Games

The opening three games of the series saw the Warriors losing each one of them, Game 1, 112-87, Game 2 126-117, and Game 3 109-100. This latest one ended with the Mavericks’ triumph, 119-109.

During the regular part of the year, the Mavs had three wins over the Warriors, who beat the rivals just once, and that was at Chase Center. IT seems that the things have changed now.

Prediction

If you noticed, the Warriors are without a loss in the playoffs in front of the Dub Nation. They have eight wins in a row, looking pretty confident against the Nuggets, Grizzlies, and now the Mavericks. The spread on them is seven points, and we believe that Curry and the boys won’t miss a chance to end the series and do that in a convincing manner. The odds on this suggestion are -110.

Pick: Warriors -7 -110