NBA: Dallas Mavericks vs. Milwaukee Bucks Preview, Odds, Picks

The Dallas Mavericks continue their tour through the East and now head for Milwaukee to meet the Bucks and Giannis. Luka Doncic is after his first NBA MVP award, while Giannis wants to add one more to his previous two. These two guys are the most dominant figures in the league right now, and that’s why tonight’s event draws the most attention. Dallas is 9-9, while the Bucks have 13 wins and five defeats.

Preview

Dallas Mavericks (9-9, +205) lost last night in Toronto, and that was the third defeat in a row for the team from Texas, fourth in the previous five. The schedule hasn’t been easy on the Mavs, but they need to show character.

After losing to the Nuggets at home, then the Celtics on the road, Jason Kidd’s crew fell last night in Toronto, 105-100. The Mavs had short-handed Raptors across themselves, yet they couldn’t win, which is proof that the Mavs are in some sort of a crisis. Dallas wasn’t able to control the glass, allowing 48 boards while having 34, only four on the offensive side, while Raptors had 17.

Luka was guarded well; in 43 minutes, he scored 24 points, with nine assists and seven boards. Finney-Smith scored 16, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 15 with seven assists. That was more or less that from the Mavericks, who, overall, looked flat.

Milwaukee Bucks (13-5, -250) have subsequent wins and defeats in the past five games, with the note that tonight’s event will be the fourth in a row at Fiserv Forum for Giannis and the boys.

The most recent was against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which ended with a win for the hosts, 117-102. Milwaukee went off in the third period, scoring 35 points and allowing only 10, and that was when they broke the rivals, creating a gap and securing a win.

Giannis had 38 points with nine boards and six assists, while Jevon Carter scored 18. The Bucks shot from deep 46.9%, which was a superb percentage and also had 50.6% from the field overall. It was noticeable that the hosts pumped up their defense at the start of the third quarter, being far more aggressive and energetic.

Head to Head Games

An interesting thing from the previous year was that each team had a win, but it came on the road. The first game was on December 22, when the Bucks won in Dallas, 102-95, and the second was on April 3, when Milwaukee met with the Mavs at Fiserv Forum, and the guests took the win back home, 118-112.

Prediction

The Bucks are looking better, despite them having a few players missing tonight’s game. Giannis simply doesn’t have a player who could stop him or at least slow him down, and we expect to see him in kill mode. Dallas seems to be in a crisis, and they aren’t performing well. The most recent loss, against the crippled Raptors, exposed them in certain situations, especially in the rebounding aspect, and knowing that the Bucks are one of the best teams in the league in that area, we expect to see them solving the guests without problems.

Pick: Bucks win