NBA: Brooklyn Nets vs Dallas Mavericks Preview, Odds, Prediction

Luka Doncic and his Dallas Mavericks host the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. This is an important contest for both sides. Dallas is in a must-win position, with the Lakers and the Trail Blazers breathing down their neck, trying to push them into the play-in zone. On the other side, the Nets are in the same situation, after losing three in a row, two against the Bucks, which saw them slip in the standings and leaving first place to Philadelphia 76ers. Now they endure pressure from Milwaukee, who would gladly take over that second-seed from Steve Nash’s side.

Preview

Brooklyn Nets (43-23, -175) have three losses in a row, and are 7-7 over the last 14 matches. The first of these latest failures came against the Trail Blazers at home. After that, two were recorded on the road in Milwaukee vs Bucks; the first 117-114, and the second 124-118.

In that latest one, the Bucks made a 16-1 run in the final period that saw them flipping the result and earning another big win. The rebounds were the main reason for that, as Bucks had 16 more than the Nets, 55-39. Also, the team from Brooklyn had more points from the paint, 44-30.

Kyrie had a team and game-high 38 points with six threes and five boards, while Kevin Durant added 32 with nine boards and six assists. The lack of proper support to these two guys here was what definitely hurt the Nets the most.

Dallas Mavericks (37-28, +145) are in solid shape recently, with seven victories in the last nine matches. Rick Carlisle’s crew started playing the best when needed the most, yet the biggest challenges for this team are still to come.

After losing to Sacramento at home in a match where Mavs stood as the absolute favorites, came a win against the Heat in Florida, 127-113, which pretty much neutralized the unexpected failure vs Kings.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had a sparkling night at the American Airlines Arena, the place where his father wrote history so often. Dallas’ guard scored 10 threes, tying the franchise record and ending the game with 36 points. Luka had 23 buckets and 12 boards with 8 assists, and Jalen Brunson added 19 off the bench. Brunson, the 2018 consensus national college player of the year, became a reliable player for Carlisle and has the role of the sixth player in this team.

Head to Head Games

This will be the second natch of the year between these two sides. That first saw the Mavs beating the Nets in late February, 115-98. Doncic was in the center of attention, with 27 points, seven assists and six boards. Porzingis was back after injury with 18 points. Harden was the top scorer on the other side, with 29 points, while Kyrie and Durant didn’t play at all.

Prediction

The line for the totals in this event is 232.5 points and for us this is Over, and this is why. The Nets are good offensively, but on the other side, the drop in the defensive performances is more than obvious. As for the Mavs, they never gave too much attention to defense, focusing only on the attack. So, when you put these two together, Over is the only logical choice, despite the current trend that saw the Nets going under in six of the past eight games.