The Clippers are coming into this game with a 3-4 record this season and they have lost their last 2 straight games as well. They lost to the Knicks by double digits in a game that was the Clipper debut for James Harden and then they followed up in their last game with another loss on the road, losing by 7 points against the Nets in Harden's 2nd start with the team. They are going up against a Mavericks team that is 6-2 overall this season and has won 2 of their last 3 games. They are coming off of a loss at home against the Raptors in their last game though and they already have 1 loss in the NBA In-Season Tournament from their loss against the Nuggets last week. The Mavericks have been playing well recently but they have also been beating up on a lot of bad teams to start the season as they have only played 3 teams in their 8 games with winning records right now. Their only win against a team with a winning record this season was their win against the 4-4 Magic while they already lost to the Nuggets and the 4-4 Raptors in their last game. The Clippers are only 3-4 but they have also had a much stronger schedule recently and now that this is the 3rd game with Harden in the lineup, they will play much better in this game as he starts to find his groove in the lineup. Kyrie Irving was also a big reason why Harden wanted out of Brooklyn so he is going to come with some extra motivation in this game. The Clippers will cover the spread in this game.