Mavs vs. Heat Betting Line – January 30
Carrie Stroup here with your Mavs vs. Heat betting line for January 30, 2015. Place your 1st bet, get your 2nd bet free here.
DALLAS MAVERICKS (30-17) at MIAMI HEAT (20-25)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Dallas -9, Total: 191
The Heat begin a stretch without Dwyane Wade when they host the Mavericks in Miami on Friday night.
The Mavericks have been a solid teams in the Western Conference this season, but things have taken a little bit of a turn recently as they have lost their past four games SU and ATS. Over the skid, the offense has put up some poor numbers (97.0 PPG) and was even considered the favorite in three of the losses. In its most recent defeat, Dallas took on the Rockets as a 3.5-point underdog in Houston and despite shooting a better percentage from the floor, turned the ball over 23 times, leading to 31 points for the opposition in the 99-94 result.
The Heat continue to be a competitive club in the Eastern Conference, but took a big blow with the news that SG Dwyane Wade (hamstring) will be out indefinitely after the team had lost its fourth game in the past seven contests. During this stretch they managed to eclipse 100 points just once on offense as they averaged 90.4 PPG. It wasn’t all bad though, as the defense gave up a mere 91.3 PPG and held the opposition less than 43% shooting four times. Unfortunately that unit didn’t show up when Milwaukee came to town and took down Miami by a score of 109-102 as 2-point underdogs on Tuesday. The Bucks shot an efficient 54.9% from the field as a team, including 9-of-16 from long range, as the Heat had a meager 13 points from their bench.
The Mavs have played pretty similar basketball at home and on the road, and are 16-9 SU (13-11-1 ATS) in away games as they go up against a Heat team that is a poor 8-14 (both SU and ATS) in South Beach. It was all Miami when these teams met up in Dallas earlier this season on Nov. 9, with the Mavericks giving eight points and losing 105-96 as the Heat shot a scorching 55.3% from the floor. It was the seventh straight SU win for Miami in this matchup (5-2 ATS) as it has shot better than 50% as a team four times in that stretch and scored 110.3 PPG.
Bettors should know that Dallas is 18-7 ATS (72%) in non-conference road games over the past two seasons and Miami is 11-2 ATS (85%) in home games off an upset loss as a home favorite in the past three years. As far as injuries go, the Mavericks have a clean slate, while the Heat are without Wade, and have SF Luol Deng (calf) doubtful and C Chris Andersen (elbow) probable.
While the Mavericks’ offense has struggled of late, they’ve done very well over the course of the season with the third-most points (107.2 PPG) in the league behind efficient shooting (47.0% FG, 5th in NBA). Unfortunately, their defense cannot always keep up, and is allowing 101.9 PPG (8th-worst in NBA) on 45.1% shooting.
SG Monta Ellis (20.5 PPG, 4.4 APG, 1.7 SPG) is coming off his second 30-point performance in the past three games when he went for 33 points on 13-of-23 shooting and added five assists with four rebounds against Houston. He was not the reason that his team lost against the Heat the first time around, as he scored 23 points and dished out five assists.
PF Dirk Nowitzki (18.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG) has struggled from the field in the past three games, netting just 17-of-42 shots (40% FG) and averaging 16.3 PPG. He was nothing special against Miami early in the season with 16 points and six rebounds.
C Tyson Chandler (10.5 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 1.4 RPG) has cooled off in his past five games with averages of 7.8 PPG (65% FG) and 9.0 RPG, as he continues to put up nice defensive stats (2.0 BPG). He had a huge double-double (16 points, 15 rebounds) and added a block in the early-season matchup with Miami.
The Heat may not score too many points (93.1 PPG, 3rd-worst in NBA), but at least they are able to have some consistent shooting and are hitting 45.9% of their shots as a unit (9th in NBA). What they lack on offense, they make up for on defense as they are allowing a mere 96.4 PPG (2nd in league) despite their opponents making 45.7% of their shots (10th-worst in league).
PF Chris Bosh (21.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG) has benefited from the emergence of C Hassan Whiteside (8.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 2.4 BPG), as Bosh returns to his natural position of power forward and has scored 20+ points in each of the past two contests. He was a big factor in Miami’s latest victory over this opponent with a nice double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) on 7-of-10 shooting and also added five assists and a steal.
The 7-foot-tall Whiteside has made his past two opponents look silly as he followed up a historic triple-double on Sunday (14 points, 13 rebounds, 12 blocks) with another huge performance Tuesday against the Bucks (16 points, 16 rebounds). He has averaged just 23.2 MPG in 10 January games, but has five double-doubles and has swatted away 3.6 BPG.
PG Mario Chalmers (10.9 PPG, 4.2 APG, 1.5 SPG) will get all the playing time he can handle with Wade out, and should have some confidence in this one after rattling off 18 points and four assists in a winning effort against the Mavs back in November.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
