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

The Dallas Mavericks will head to Brooklyn to meet the Nets on Thursday night. These two units have a negative record at the moment, but their matchup is by far the most interesting because of superstar potential. On one side, we have Luka Doncic, while on the other, the shaken duo Durant-Irving, who produces high numbers but doesn’t care about the team too much, especially Kyrie. This will be the second of back-to-back nights for the Nets, who lost the last two bouts, and we’ll see how the spectators at the Barclays Center react to their appearance.

Preview

Dallas Mavericks (1-2, -120) are the favorites in this event. That comes as a surprise for the majority of the punters, but when looking at the overall picture, it really isn’t because the Nets play pretty badly. Dallas has two losses and a win.

That victory was at home, against the Grizzlies, 137-96, while both defeats came on the road, one in Phoenix, 107-105, where they managed to waste a 22-point lead, and the other in New Orleans to the Pelicans, 113-111, in their most recent event. We could say that Jason Kidds’ crew had a pretty challenging schedule in the opening three rounds.

Three players played at the needed level against the Pelicans, Luka, Dinwiddie and Wood. Doncic had 37 points, but was terrible from deep, 2-for-13, adding 11 boards and seven assists. Dinwiddie added 24 buckets, while Christian Wood scored 22 points with six rebounds off the bench. Not a single another player among the Mavs had a double-digit number of buckets.

Brooklyn Nets (1-3, +100) come into this one following back-to-back losses. The Nets lost at home on the opening night to the Pels, 130-108, then won at Barclays against the Raptors, 109-105, before hitting the road and routinely suffering two defeats to the Grizzlies, 134-124, and the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-99.

As said before, on a couple of occasions, the chemistry in the locker room is poor, and not only in the locker room but outside the court as well. The media and some of the fans are after Ben Simmons, who isn’t playing as expected. The former 76ers had only four points with five boards and nine assists vs. Bucks.

Kyrie was better with 27 points and nine rebounds, but Uncle Drew had one assist, and he is supposed to be a playmaker. Also, his shooting from deep was 0-for-7. Durant was the only one worthy of mention, with 33 points and six boards.

Head to Head Games

In the 2021/22 campaign, the Mavs and the Nets split one win each, and interestingly both were on the road. Nets were better in Dallas, 102-99, and after that, the Mavs responded by winning at Barclays, 113-111.

Prediction

At the moment, we don’t think that the Nets have the power to change the current flow, which is negative for them. This unit will collapse at some point in the season because there are too many bad things in their game and system. The Mavs should win tonight, and Luka should score some 30 buckets or more, and those are our picks.

Pick: Mavericks win -120