NBA: New York Knicks vs. Dallas Mavericks Preview, Odds, Prediction

The New York Knicks continue their tough road trip with a game against the Dallas Mavericks. Tom Thibodeau’s unit comes in this one with back-to-back wins, which boosted their morale. When mentioning wins, the Mavs are on a hot streak, and for the moment, the franchise from Texas looks very good, some would say, like a true playoff team. To make it even better, it seems that they have more room for improvement. The game takes place at the American Airlines Center, and the start is st for 8:30 pm ET.

Preview

New York Knicks (27-38, TBA) are trying to catch the last wagon for the play-in tournament in the East. Things aren’t easy for them, with the odds favoring other teams, but the Knicks won’t give up. NYK won the previous two events, beating the LA Clippers 116-93 at the Crypto.com Arena and the Sacramento Kings one day later, 131-115, at the Golden One Center.

Julius Randle had a career-best 46 points, making eight three-point shots, and dropping 17 buckets in the final period. Those 12 minutes were crucial for the Knicks who outscored the hosts 39-28, to snatch a very important victory.

Apart from Randle, RJ Barrett was masterful, and the young guard is slowly taking over the team and imposing himself as the new leader and the franchise face. RJ scored 29 points with eight boards and six assists, all that in 37 minutes. Immanuel Quickley got off the bench to smash the Kings with 27 points in 31 minutes played.

Dallas Mavericks (40-25, TBA) have five consecutive victories, eleven of them in the past 13 games. The latest one was against the Utah Jazz, whom they defeated 111-103 on Monday night.

Luka was fantastic, and he looked like a true leader, with team-highs in points – 35, rebounds – 16, and assists – 7. Doncic also made five threes and had one steal, shooting 12-for-23 from the field, all that in 38 minutes on the court. He is back following a short absence, which apparently didn’t hurt his form at all.

Other players who need to be mentioned are Spencer Dinwiddie, who ended the event with 23 buckets, five threes in nine tries, and it needs to be stressed out that he had a team-high in minutes, 40. Ever since he arrived in Dallas, the veteran guard has been playing solid. Also, Dorian Finney-Smith dropped 21 buckets, and Dwight Powell 13.

Head to Head Games

New York was merciless in the opening clash of the year, beating the Mavs on January 12, 108-85. Barrett had 32 points, Mitchell Robinson 19, and Randle 17. Luka scored 21 on the other end.

Prediction

The Mavs play at home, which is very important when it comes to betting, as they rarely lose at the American Airlines Center. We do respect New York’s latest wins, but we don’t think that they have the power to get out of Texas unbeaten. Fatigue is a great problem for Thibodeau’s boys, because this is the fifth consecutive stop on their tour. Meanwhile, Dallas is at home for quite some time, and on top of that, they look pretty confident and strong.

Pick: Dallas Mavericks wins