Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors Game 2 odds and best bet

In Game 1, the Warriors took control early and never looked back. It is hard to imagine a better result than a 25-point win where they held the Mavericks to just 87 points while having seven players score in double figures. That is a very complete effort. 

When you watched the game, you saw that Dallas was able to get a lot of open looks but just couldn't knock them down, especially early on. Once they lost touch, it was hard to get back into the game, especially because generating quick offense is not Dallas' specialty. 

Heading into Game 2, Dallas should feel somewhat encouraged by the fact that it would be hard to imagine them shooting any worse than they did in Game 1. Some of that was Luka Doncic, who has shown a great ability to bounce back. 

Unfortunately for Dallas fans, we are getting back to the area of concern of wondering who is going to step up in support. Jalen Brunson is just not a consistent No. 2 yet.

Golden State got the easy cover in Game 1, but the line has not moved a ton for Game 2, just a point, even though Dallas was a disaster. That is very telling.  

Game Info

Dallas Mavericks (0-1) vs. Golden State Warriors (1-0)
Friday, May 20, 2022
9:00 p.m. ET
Chase Center, San Francisco, Calif.
TNT

Betting Odds

Spread: Mavericks +6 (-110), Warriors -6 (-110)
Total: 214
Moneyline: Mavericks +205, Warriors -245 

Best Bet:

Warriors -6

The Warriors are probably an underrated defensive team. One wrinkle we saw in Game 1 was that they played a little bigger than normal with Kevon Looney playing close to 30 minutes. He was actually one of the big success factors for the team with his ability to effectively switch and protect the rim. Plus he scored 10 points and added business. 

Holding Dallas to under 90 points was a pretty impressive achievement for Golden State. They probably can't repeat that, but I do believe the Warriors can continue to be very good defensively, especially against Dallas. They proved, at least for one game, that they can keep Luka under wraps. They are not going to have to do it every game, just three more times to win the series.

This Golden State team is very experienced but that sometimes comes with overconfidence — the core of this team has seen it all. We have seen with this group an assumption that they can turn it "on" whenever they want and sometimes that can be dangerous.  This core knows what it takes to win, but they do have the occasional clunker. After a dominant win like what we saw in Game 1 it would be natural to let your foot off the gas.

While I do expect Golden State to come back to earth a little after Game 1, I am not confident that Dallas can bridge the gap to get this one close enough to cover. I do expect Luka to be better than what we saw in Game 1 but unless the rest of the team comes up with more offense, it won't be enough. I am just not sure where that comes from against a defense that can be very good as we have seen. Dallas will be better offensively, but it might not be enough. 

Dallas has been a really good defensive team all season long so I also expect that they will limit the Warriors more than we saw in Game 1. They are going to bounce back defensively, but I am not sure it is going to be enough to get close enough unless they get really hot from behind the arc. 

If Dallas is going to get back in the series, it is probably going to have to start that journey at home, the same way they did against Phoenix. Once Luka gets going, he is kind of like a runaway freight train, so the key is to keep him from getting a head of steam. Golden State is fully committed to slowing him down and has the personnel to do it. Look for that to carry over for at least one more game.