Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/12/2022

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX

Where to watch: BSSW-DAL, BSSC

DraftKings: Mavs -6.5

WynnBet: Mavs -6.5

Caesars: NL

Clippers: 27-30

Mavericks: 33-23

Clippers: lost four of five

Mavs: won four straight

Well, you didn't see this one coming on Thursday did you? Sure there were rumblings earlier in the day that the possibility lay that Kristaps Porzingis would be traded, but I don't think the Washington Wizards were on the list of teams that would have sufficed.

Porzingis is gone, and what seemed like a pipe dream just two years ago where Mark Cuban was on stage after acquiring the seven-foot-three big man from the New York Knicks and said that they wanted Porzingis and Luka Doncic to be together for the next 15 to 20 years.

And here we are two years later, Porzingis has gone, Doncic is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and The Mavericks find themselves 10 games over 500 after what could only be described as the most bizarre case of divine intervention we ever saw on Thursday night in Dallas.

The Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers but that's not the story that comes out of this game period no, the story of this game is that on the same day that Porzingis was traded, Luka explodes for a career-high 51 points and shows the rest of the world then maybe he did not need the Unicorn right to his side.

"Obviously, we're going to miss KP," Doncic said. "We were building something great here. It didn't obviously work out. I wish him the best, and we've got two new guys who are welcome. Bertans is a great shooter. Dinwiddie can put the ball on the floor and he can score. The NBA is a business.

"He went through a lot with the injuries. I think this year, he was way better. Like I said, the NBA is a business, and I wish him the best in the future."

Los Angeles and Dallas will go at it again in Dallas on Saturday for the second time in as many days, and as much as I would want to believe that Doncic would actually explode for another big game against the Clippers, because he tends to do that over the last couple of years if you've watched him, I'm having hesitant thoughts on Dallas completing the sweep, but it would be so good for them morale if they could do that.

But first, the other components coming to Dallas in this trade from Washington. Dallas acquires point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and shooting big man Davis Bertans in essentially a salary swap. But Dallas gets another playmaker on the floor to compliment Doncic and Jalen Brunson, and burtons is a capable 3 point shooter from the perimeter that Dallas is hoping will reverse his fortune from 31% from 3 point range this season.

I'm not sure how I feel about this trade from a Dallas POV. Dallas was heavily interested in Dinwiddie during the offseason according to many reports, but for some reason after shelling all the money for Tim Hardaway junior, Dallas didn't have the money to go out and get that point guard. Dinwiddie, unfortunately, is having one of the worst shooting seasons of his young career, with both clips under 40% despite averaging almost 13 points per game.

In the short term, Dallas loses a lot of size and shot blocking ability. But right now, Dallas is also winning games without Porzingis on the floor. The big man was not available for the last number of games or so due to a knee injury, but Dallas has found ways to win these games that if you looked at him two months ago they probably wouldn't have won.

But if Doncic even comes remotely close to what he did on Thursday night, The Mavericks are going to win this game against the shorthanded Clippers. Los Angeles fought them tough to the very end and had a couple of shots going in that nearly went in, the Clippers probably would have come back to win and would have thwarted Doncic’s incredible effort.

but let's face reality. No one was stopping Luka on that night. It seemed like every shot that he took in the first quarter was not going to miss, and realistically they didn't miss. Luca hit five threes in the first quarter finished with seven in the game, and in many ways punctuated that effort with a typical Luca performance against the Clippers. It would not have mattered if Paul George or Kawhi Leonard would have been available for this game because I humbly believe Luka would have just torched that entire defense. They probably would have given up a lot to the guys on the other side but that's neither here nor there.

Normally I would stay away from the revenge game back-to-back, but I think that there is reason to be excited for The Mavericks despite trading away their second star player. Nevertheless, Porzingis missed a lot of games and that was probably the end all be all for Dallas as far as that was concerned. I think The Mavericks will play inspired ball, I don't know if Luka is going to go for 51 points again but God help us all if he does. Mavericks by 10

The Clippers are 343-387 ATS as a road underdog since 1996.

The Clippers are 22-9 ATS after failing to cover five or six of the last seven.

The Mavs are 9-0 ATS as a home favorite of 6 points or more this season.

The under is 56-46 in Mavs home games the past three years.

PG: Reggie Jackson

SG: Amir Coffey

SF: Marcus Morris Sr.

PF: Nicolas Batum

C: Ivica Zubac

PG: Luka Doncic

SG: Jalen Brunson

SF: Reggie Bullock

PF: Dorian Finney-Smith

C: Maxi Kleber

Points: Reggie Jackson -- 16.5

Rebounds: Ivica Zubac -- 7.9

Assists: Reggie Jackson -- 4.2

Points: Luka Doncic -- 26.8

Rebounds: Luka Doncic -- 8.9

Assists: Luka Doncic -- 9.1