Dallas Mavericks at Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Preview
Wednesday night will feature a West versus East battle of playoff contenders as the Dallas Mavericks (47-29, 4th in West) square off with the Cleveland Cavaliers (42-33, 7th in the East). The Cavaliers will host this one at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
The Mavericks have been surging as of late, winning seven of their last ten and two in a row. On Tuesday, they took down the Lakers 128-110 in the first of a back-to-back.
Luka Doncic was spectacular in the win as he had a triple-double with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. Reggie Bullock added 17 in the victory.
Cleveland has been in a bit of a funk losing six of their last ten; however, they did pick up a 107-101 home victory over the Magic on Monday.
Darius Garland led all scorers with 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Lauri Markkanen added 20 points, while Kevin Love had 19.
The Mavericks are slight favorites despite playing on the road. They are -168 to win while the Cavaliers’ moneyline sits at +142. The spread features Cleveland +4 (-110), and the over/under for total points is 214.
By The Numbers
Neither of these teams are dominant offensively as they both rank in the bottom third in scoring. The Cavaliers rank 24th averaging 107.2 points per game. The Mavericks rank 25th averaging 106.7 points.
Defensively, these are two of the best in the NBA. Dallas ranks second in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 104.1 points per game. The Cavaliers rank third, allowing 104.6 points per game.
Dallas Trying To Maintain Playoff Positioning
Quietly, Dallas has been one of the best teams in the Western Conference. While they sit 14.5 games behind the Suns for first place, they sit just a single game behind the Warriors for third.
With just six games left in the regular season, Dallas will look to keep their winning ways going as they jockey for playoff positioning.
Leading the Mavericks offense is 23-year-old Luka Doncic. This season, he is averaging a remarkable 27.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.2 steals. In fact, he leads the team in each of those four categories.
Aside from Doncic, Jalen Brunson (16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists), Spencer Dinwiddie (17.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists), Dorian Finney-Smith (10.7 points, 4.9 rebounds), and Reggie Bullock (8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds) have been the most productive.
Cleveland Looking For Home Court Advantage
At 42-33, the Cavaliers have had a solid season this year. While they have been mediocre on the road (18-19), they have been far superior at home (24-14) and will look to continue that against the Mavericks Wednesday.
Point guard Darius Garland has led the offense for the Cavaliers. He is averaging 21.5 points per game to go along with 3.4 rebounds, 8.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
Other major contributors include Lauri Markkanen (14.6 points, 5.6 rebounds), Kevin Love (13.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists), and Caris LeVert (12.3 points, three rebounds, 3.6 assists).
Unfortunately for Cleveland fans, they will be without both Jarrett Allen (finger) and Evan Mobley (ankle) on Wednesday. Allen has been out for a while, and Mobley, along with Dean Wade, has been ruled out for this contest.
Take Dallas To Win On The Road
Neither of these teams have been especially good against the spread as of late. In fact, in their last five games, Cleveland is 0-5 ATS while Dallas is 1-4 ATS in their last five road games.
Straight up, though, Dallas instills a lot more confidence. Not only has Dallas been the hotter team as of late, but they are 6-1 straight up in their last seven games against Cleveland.
Obviously, Dallas has the disadvantage of playing their second game in as many nights, but being without Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley could be even more impactful for the Cavaliers.
Take Dallas to win on the moneyline (-168) in this one.
