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

The Brooklyn Nets start their four-game road trip in Dallas against the Mavericks. This will be a solid challenge for the East leaders who haven’t been that confident lately. On the other side, the Mavs are still waiting to hear updates on Luka Doncic’s ankle issue, but it is expected to see the youngster available for this event. Things aren’t as expected in Dallas, with the team sitting at the .500-mark, in the playoffs zone for the moment. But that could change quickly with a couple of losses in a row.

Preview

Brooklyn Nets (16-7, TBA) is still first in the East, but the fans aren’t happy, we can tell that for sure. Their favorites haven’t defeated a title-contender so far, and in each big matchup at Barclays, the Nets lost. The most recent defeat was against the Bulls, who went home with a 111-107 triumph.

Durant and the boys constantly held the lead, reaching a double-digit edge midway through the third, but suddenly stopped near the end of the final quarter, allowing the guests to come back.

The interesting fact is that the Nets had only nine free-throw attempts. This shows their lack of aggressiveness on the offensive side. That might be an odd thing to hear when Brooklyn plays due to their superstars, but it is true. Durant had 28 points, Aldridge 20, while James Harden scored only 14, missing 16 of his 21 shots. He did add 14 assists and seven boards, yet that can’t cover up his awful performance on the offensive end.

Dallas Mavericks (11-11, TBA) have only two wins in the previous 10 games, which has set the alarm off at the American Airlines Center. We have already heard some rumors about possible trades that would bring some reinforcement to Texas.

The last two matches took place in Dallas, and the Mavs lost both of them, one vs. New Orleans Pelicans and the other to the Memphis Grizzlies, 97-90. Dallas looked helpless against the franchise from Tennessee, falling behind 10+ points already in the opening period.

Luka Doncic didn’t appear in that event, and the Mavs looked decapitated and weren’t able to endanger the Grizzlies in any aspect of the play. Tim Hardaway Jr. entered off the bench, to score a team-high 29 points, with five threes and seven boards. Jalen Brunson scored 15 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith had 14. We’ve forgotten to mention that Kristaps Porzingis didn’t play either.

Head to Head Games

The Mavs won in both games last year. The first in Brooklyn saw the guests triumphing 115-98, and the second in Texas ended 113-109 for Dallas.

Prediction

Luka’s condition is still unclear, but as said, he should appear. On the other side, Porzingis is out for the hosts. The Nets, meanwhile, don’t have too many problems with injured players, and they should be able to utilize the Mavs’ health issues. We believe that even if Luka plays, coach Kidd won’t be eager to overload his biggest player, and all this should allow the Nets to post an easy win and start their journey successfully.

Pick: Nets win