NBA: Dallas Mavericks vs Golden State Warriors Preview, Odds, Prediction

Luka Doncic and Steph Curry will clash tonight, as their Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors meet at Chase Center, San Francisco. The two sides are close to one another in the standings, with the Mavs, who are currently sixth, sitting there with just 2.5 games more than the Warriors, 10th in the West. The situation is pretty intense here because several teams (Warriors, Spurs, Grizzlies, Blazers) want to get ahold of that sixth place, which leads directly to the playoffs, skipping the play-in tournament. 

Preview

Dallas Mavericks (33-27, -111) had a nice chance to win four in a row, but as usual, when least expected, Doncic and the boys played one bad game, losing to the Sacramento Kings, 113-106. This was their first of three games on the road, and we might say without any hesitation that the Mavs utterly disappointed their fans.

They would allow the hosts to pull away in the first period and chase that difference throughout the next two quarters. Once Dallas finally came back earning a chance to win, Rick Carlisle’s boys just stopped handing the victory to the average hosts.

Just 14 shots from the free-throw line are suggesting that the Mavs weren’t aggressive enough. Luka had 24 points, 8 assists, and seven boards; Trey Burke delivered 19 off the bench, the same as Tim Hardaway Jr. Porzingis didn’t appear due to a left ankle sprain. His injuries are already becoming pretty frustrating for both the team and the fans.

Golden State Warriors (31-30, -110) won 8 of the last 11 games, which is excellent because they are ahead of the most important part of the year. Now, all those wins came solely because of Steph Curry, who is playing at his best level. During that stretch, Steph had just one match in which he hadn’t scored at least 32 points.

Like Mavs, the Warriors also met with the Kings in their latest game. The difference is they haven’t lost, notching a 117-113 triumph. Curry splashed 37 buckets, hitting seven threes and setting a new record with 85 three-pointers during one month. 

Kelly Oubre Jr scored 19 points, and Andrew Wiggins added 13 with six rebounds and assists. Interestingly, the Warriors outrebounded the Kings under the rim, having 52 boards, 14 more than the rivals.

Head to Head Games

The Mavs hosted GSW twice this year. The first match ended with the guests’ big win, 147-116, and in the very next contest, Dallas avenged the loss, beating the Warriors 134-132. Oubre Jr. dropped 40 in the first, and Steph had 57 points in the second game. Luka was the top scorer among the Mavs, with 27 in Game 1 and 42 in Game 2. 

Prediction

Golden State really looks good in recent times. To be precise, Steph Curry is amazing. Meanwhile, the Mavs are still one of the most unpredictable teams in the NBA. Therefore, we will not give you any predictions on the winner here but go with OVER number of points. The current line for the total is set at 227.5. Knowing that neither of these teams has some particularly strong defense and that they focus on offense, OVER is the best choice, in our opinion.