NBA: Memphis Grizzlies vs Dallas Mavericks Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Dallas Mavericks are hosting the Memphis Grizzlies in a very interesting matchup on Monday night. The two sides are competing to reach the postseason, and for the moment, they are both outside the playoff zone, one or two wins away. It is why this match has so much significance and is important for either side. Memphis is at .500, while Mavs sit slightly underneath, but are on the rise over the past few events.

Preview

Memphis Grizzlies (13-13, +150) won three in four before losing to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night. The defeat in Glendale was a big one, with the hosts triumphing with 31 points, 128-97.

Throughout the entire event, Booker, Paul, and the boys were harassing the Grizzlies who scored lousy 34 points in the opening half. Meanwhile, they would allow 65 to the opponents, and everything was pretty much over at the break.

Gorgui Dieng scored 15 points off the bench, and he was the best scorer of the visitors in this matchup. Ja Morant had just 12 buckets, with 5 boards and assists, shooting 5-for-12 from the field. Valanciunas added 10 points and 12 boards.

Overall, the Grizzlies had just 15.2%for shooting behind the three-point line, hitting five of their 33 attempts. They would outrebound the hosts 57-44, but fail to utilize that and reduce the big gap.

Dallas Mavericks (13-15, -182) had four wins in a row, and one defeat that came against the Portland Trail Blazers. It was an unexpected failure at the American Airlines Center, 121-118, in which they allowed the hosts to go home with a W, due to several terrible mistakes.

Luka Doncic was shining in that event, scoring 44 points, with 9 assists and seven rebounds, shooting 14-for-20, and adding five threes. Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t at the needed level, with the Latvian center scoring just 18 buckets in 31 minutes, and grabbing 8 rebounds,

The Mavs didn’t have any solution on how to stop Damian Lillard, which was something that decided the match, Dame was there in the clutch moments, and even superb Luka couldn’t neutralize his effort on the court.

Dallas is one of the weakest defenses in the league, allowing 114.6 points per night, while scoring 112.9. With the current play level, they won’t reach the playoffs, and Rick Carlisle needs to make some radical changes to improve his team.

Head to Head

Mavs won two games last year. The first was in Memphis, 138-122, and after that the Grizzlies responded triumphing in Texas, 121-102. the third match took place on March 6, and Dallas won that one 121-96.

Prediction

The Grizzlies are not in a good position at all, and they showed many weaknesses over the past few days. The latest three wins came against the teams who are desperate at the moment, OKC, Pistons, Kings, while matches against the teams of their level ended with terrible losses.

Meanwhile, the Mavs show some signs of life, and play much better than some month ago. Losing to Portland was an unexpected slip, but that happens sometimes. The spread od them is -4.5 points, and from our point of view, that should be easily covered by Luke and the crew.