Golden State Warriors vs Dallas Mavericks betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA Western Conference Finals Game 5 on TNT. The Warriors are on the verge of making their 6th NBA Finals in 8 seasons as they host the Dallas Mavericks holding a 3-1 lead. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Golden State Warriors
Game 4 was the 3rd time this postseason the Warriors failed to close out a team on the road as they fell 119-109 to the Dallas Mavericks. Now the series shifts to Chase Center where the Warriors are yet to lose a game during this run and now they have an opportunity to advance to the Finals for the first time in 2 seasons. Closeout games are never easy, so I wouldn’t expect smooth sailing in tonight’s game despite them beating Dallas by 25 and 9 points in the 2 home games in this series.
What is working for Golden State in this game is the fact that they’ve won 15 of their last 20 home games vs the Warriors, so it’s not a surprise the oddsmakers have them favoured by 7-points tonight. With a 39-10 home record this season, there aren’t many teams that you can put in the same sentence as the Warriors when it comes to home games, so I think this could be it for the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic did what he was supposed to do, he got the Mavericks a win in this series which helps avoid a sweep, but the Mavs are still on the brink of elimination. Can they avoid it? Several factors will determine that. One of them is how Luka Doncic plays, will he opt for another huge scoring game or will he get his teammates involved? Dallas plays a lot better when the ball is shared and everyone is involved, although that doesn’t automatically guarantee them a win since they’ve had a few cold shooting nights in this series already.
With 5 players aside from Luka scoring in double-figures in Game 4, the Mavericks now know what should work against this Warriors team. The problem for the Mavs has been their form on the road lately as they’ve covered the spread just once in 6 games. However, in games played on a Thursday they are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 so the series might not be just over with.
Dallas has nothing to lose here, so they can relax and play freely without any worry about the outcome. No team has ever come back from 3-0 in a series, so the Warriors have everything to lose here. I’m taking the Mavs to cover, but I am not expecting them to win. Take the road team and the extra points.
Golden State Warriors vs Dallas Mavericks Predictions & Odds
When the scoreline is higher, the Dallas Mavericks chances of winning are higher. In Game 2 the Mavs had a really solid chance of winning and that game ended with 243 points and the total going over. The same thing happened in Game 4, we got the over and the Mavericks won with a combined point total of 228 points scored. In that game Dallas scored 20 threes on 43 attempts, so it’s pretty safe to say we can expect them to line it up from distance in tonight’s game, whether or not those shots go in that’s a different story.
The Warriors defence, which has been stellar these playoffs, has shown some flaws over the past couple of games allowing 117 and 119 in 2 of their last 3 outings. Playing in front of the home fans gives them an extra incentive, but we’ve seen a few times already that nerves can get the best of them when it comes to closing out opponents. That’s what happens when you are a jump-shooting team. Overall I think we are in for a high scoring game, these two teams have both scored 100 or more points in 3 of the 4 games so far, so I think we are in for a similar score as we saw in Games 2 and 4. Back to the points.
