NBA: Atlanta Hawks vs. Dallas Mavericks Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Atlanta Hawks visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night. These two franchises had a deal a few years ago to pick certain players at the draft and later on swap them. Those guys were Luka Donicic and Trae Young. Both became megastars and the leaders of the new generation of NBA players. Each time they meet on the floor, the hype is unreal, which is the case here as well. The Mavs are in a better position right now because they sit in the playoff spot, unlike the Hawks, who are in the play-in zone.

Preview

Atlanta Hawks (25-27, TBA) have to wake up and start winning again, otherwise, the postseason will slip away. After several wins in a row, they ran into Toronto Raptors, who defeated Trae and the boys twice in the recent three events. In between, the Hawks beat the league-leading Phoenix Suns, but didn’t have the key for the Canadian franchise.

Following a 106-100 defeat at home, they lost 125-114 at Scotiabank Arena. A slow start and 39 points allowed in the opening quarter were the keys to this failure. Even though Atlanta came back in the second period, that took a lot of energy from them, and the Raptors once again exploded after the half to secure the triumph.

John Collins had 23 points, the same as DeAndre Hunter, while Trae added 22 with 13 assists and six boards, but without a single three made in this event. Bogdan Bogdanovic came off the bench to add 18 points, four steals, and boards with five dimes.

Dallas Mavericks (30-23, TBA) slowed down following a victorious streak, having 3-3 in the last six games. After back-to-back losses to the Magic and Thunder, they beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-98. This was extremely important for Dallas’ morale after those very tight losses against underdogs.

Luka had a triple-double against the 76ers, 33 points, 15 assists, and 13 boards, 44th in his career so far. Philly didn’t have the solution on how to stop the Slovenian, and it was obvious that the guests were going to lose after he started pounding.

He had solid help in this contest. Reggi Bullock scored 20 points, Jalen Brunson 10 with five boards and four assists, while Dwight Powell scored 14 buckets, one more than Dorian Finney-Smith. The Mavericks limited the 76ers to only 36 boards which is impressive.

Head to Head

The Hawks hosted the Mavericks early into the season, on October 21. Atlanta won 113-87, wiping the floor with the guests. Cam Reddish scored 19, Trae had 19 and 14 assists, and John Collins dropped 16 with nine rebounds. Luka Doncic had 18 for the guests and 11 boards, and seven assists.

Prediction

These two sides know how to play rough matches and tighten the defense when things become important. Needless to say that tonight’s game has a high value for both teams, and we expect too see Under points. The current line set is 218.5, and in our opinion, one of these two units won’t reach 100 points. Since joining Dallas, Jason Kidd significantly improved defense, while on the other side, Nate McMillan demands more attention to that aspect of the game in recent times.

Pick: Under 218.5 points