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Carrie Stroup here for Gambling911.com. The Lakers-Mavs line was coming in at Dallas -4.5. You can get all the latest NBA betting odds at Sportsbook.com here.
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Dallas -4.5 & 180.5
Opening Line & Total: Mavs -4 & 179.5
The Lakers once again look to reverse their road woes when they visit Dallas on Wednesday night.
With SU and ATS losses at Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia and Utah, plus a SU win but no cover in Toronto, over their past six road games, L.A. is 5-11 SU and 4-12 ATS on the road this year. Even worse, they’ve dropped four of five SU and five in a row ATS against the Mavs, and four of five SU and ATS in Dallas. The Lakers managed to sneak by the Mavs at home more than a month ago, an ugly 73-70 slugfest in which the Mavs shot 4-for-26 from three. But Dallas has been playing excellent of late, winning seven of eight SU (5-2-1 ATS), including four in a row SU at home (2-1-1 ATS) over playoff contenders Portland, the Clippers, Denver and Boston.
The Lakers bounced back from a 12-point loss at Phoenix on Sunday by beating up on Portland at home on Monday. It was a familiar home/road pattern, as L.A. is averaging 96.0 PPG on 47.4% FG and 33.7% shooting from three at home, and 90.6 PPG on 42.7% FG and 26.8% shooting from three on the road.
SG Kobe Bryant (29.0 PPG) has remained fairly even in home versus road performances, as have C Andrew Bynum (16.3 PPG, 12.8 RPG) and PF Pau Gasol (16.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG). The culprits have been their supporting cast. SF Matt Barnes (7.1 PPG) is averaging 9.6 PPG on 52.9% shooting from the field at home versus 4.9 PPG on 35.4% shooting on the road. PG Steve Blake (7.1 PPG) averages 8.5 PPG on 44.7% shooting from the field and 44.7% shooting from three at home, but 5.1 PPG on 32.0% from the field and 21.4% from three in away games. PG Derek Fisher (5.2 PPG) has hit just 33.3% of his threes at home, but a miserable 18.5% on the road.
The Mavericks have done it with defense during their recent hot streak. They’ve held opponents to 89.3 PPG on 40.2% FG (28.4% on threes) over their past eight games. But offensively they’ve been a bit of an enigma. PF Dirk Nowitzki (19.4 PPG) has been his usual stellar self, averaging 25.0 PPG over that eight-game stretch. But their No. 2 option, sixth man Jason Terry (14.7 PPG), has been cold of late, averaging 13.0 PPG on 39.2% FG (32.4% from three) in these eight contests.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
