NBA Bubble Predictions [4/5/6 August 2020]

Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Clippers

PREDICTION: Clippers Win

As of late, the Mavericks are 0-2 since the official beginning of the NBA restart. They lost an overtime game against the Houston Rockets that they should have won after scoring 150 points and weren’t able to close the game out. They then lost a game against the Devin Booker led Phoenix Suns, a game they were the clear-cut favorite to win. They have a game against the Sacramento Kings before this matchup and it will be interesting to see how their team bounces back after two straight losses. If they want any chance to take down the Clippers, they will need to limit their turnovers and get out to a fast start behind superstar Luka Dončić. Meanwhile, the Clippers have just dominated the playoff-hopeful New Orleans Pelicans by 30-40 points without key players like Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams. Williams was recently caught lying about a family emergency just to go to a club. He is now required to quarantine himself for at least two weeks so he will not be playing in this matchup either. For Harrell, he is going through a hard time off the court, with his ailing grandmother². He has not announced when he will be returning to the team, but head coach Doc Rivers stated that “When he’s ready he’ll come back. You can’t play if you’re not right mentally” it seems that Rivers will let Harrell take as much time as needed to grief. But even without them this Clippers team has exceptional talent top to bottom but hasn’t been able to be on the court together very often this year. Throughout the entire season, this team has rarely all played at the same time and has always been missing players. Due to the small amount of time that they have played together, their chemistry has struggled at times during the season and may come back and haunt them again in this matchup against the Mavericks. However, they still have their star players in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, which will always give them a chance to win. If they are able to play at full health (or close to it) then they should be able to win this game against the struggling Mavericks. I would pick the Clippers to win this game.

 
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Indiana Pacers vs. Orlando Magic

PREDICTION: Pacers win

Each of these teams has something to play for in this game. The Pacers have been looking to climb up the seeding in the eastern conference in order to give themselves a shot at making it out of the first round. Meanwhile, the Magic have been battling for a spot in the postseason as well in the east. This game should be close throughout all four quarters, as the Magic have been playing really inspiring basketball in their first two games since the restart. Although, they have just their standout forward Jonathan Isaac with a torn ACL and will hurt their chances tremendously in this matchup. Isaac has been a phenomenal defender in the few years that he has been in the league and was beginning to find a rhythm offensively as well. The Pacers have been clicking on all cylinders as well since the restart, with their star player Victor Oladipo deciding to play and not opt-out. They have a great bench crew and a lot of talented role players who have great chemistry to go along with their stars Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. They have been shooting the three-ball pretty well during the restart also, hitting around 37% from deep¹. Ultimately, I think that the loss of Isaac puts the Pacers on top of this one. I am taking the Pacers in this matchup.