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Past the halfway point in the regular season the Portland Trail Blazers are in an unfamiliar position. With a current record of 19-26, the Blazers are outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference. This is a team that won 53 games last season and reached the conference finals. Damian Lillard has done his part to keep Portland within striking distance, delivering a record-setting performance last time out to help end a two-game slide. Luka Doncic scored 35 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a win over the Blazers last week leveling the season series at 1-1.
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Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers
Date and Time: Thursday, January 23, 2020, 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Moda Center, Portland, OR
Opening NBA Odds: Dallas -4.5
Mavericks at Trail Blazers TV Coverage: TNT
Odds Analysis
While the Blazers are chasing down a playoff spot, the Mavs are fighting for a coveted top-four in the rugged West. They won their fourth in a row by taking down the Blazers, 120-112, in Big D last week covering the 7.5-point spread. The result evened the season series at 1-1 SU and ATS. The Mavs have actually been a better road team this season winning their last two and going 14-5 SU and 13-5-1 ATS. Portland’s home ledger is a big reason why they are floundering this year. Traditionally the Blazers have been dominant in the Pacific Northwest, but they are just a .500 team (10-10) and needed narrow wins in their last two just to reach the breakeven point. They’ve been a money pit at the Moda Center with a 6-12-2 ATS record.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs got some good news then they got some bad news in Tuesday’s loss to the Clippers. The bad news is that Dwight Powell sustained an Achilles injury and is done for the season. He picked up his game with Kristaps Porzingis out of the lineup averaging 13 points while shooting 71 percent from the field over the last 10 with KP on the shelf. That means we’re likely to see more Maxi Kleber and Boban Marjanovic, who did a respectable job eating up minutes when Porzingis was out.
The good is that Porzingis finally returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with a sore knee. It was a tough return, though, as he shot just 4 of 17 and scored 10 points with nine rebounds against the Clips. Even better news is that Doncic continues to play at a high level. He just missed another triple-double on Tuesday with 36 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. His 24 second half points rallied the Mavs after they trailed by double-digits. Doncic is following up his Rookie of the Year campaign by ranking fourth in the NBA in scoring and third in assists.
Playing away from home hasn’t been an issue for the Mavs so far. Their 14 road wins are tied for the third-most in the league behind the Lakers and Milwaukee, the top two teams in the Association. And the Mavs beat those two clubs on the road earlier this season. This is the first of two encounters between teams in Portland with the Blazers winning the last three.
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland has its own scoring machine in Lillard and he put on a show Monday night against Golden State to end a two-game losing streak. Dame dropped a franchise record 61 points making 11 three-pointers in the 129-124 victory. And the Blazers needed every minute and every point since they had just nine players available.
Hit hard by injuries since before the season started the Blazers have struggled to find the right combination. But you know Dame is going to be a part of it. Jusuf Nurkic hasn’t played yet this season as he recovers from a gruesome leg injury, and Zach Collins hasn’t played since the opening week of the season. Rodney Hood was lost for the year last month and CJ McCollum has been on the shelf with an ankle injury. It got so bad the team reached out to Carmelo Anthony.
It hasn’t been the best season for the Blazers and their struggles were magnified over the past few weeks. They’ve won just five of their past 15 games and are 3-12 ATS in that span. They won their last two at home, but those didn’t come easy. Only Lillard’s heroics prevented further disaster. Dame scored 30 in a 115-112 win over Charlotte and erupted as the Blazers overcame a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Warriors in overtime.
Bet Mavericks at Trail Blazers at BookMaker.eu
Lillard has shown he can carry the Blazers, but when he stumbles there isn’t much secondary scoring. Doncic does it all for Dallas and with Porzingis having a game under him he should be more consistent on the offensive end. The Mavs have better depth and they’ve been good on the road, which helps them get a cover win on Thursday.
NBA Score Prediction: Dallas 115, Portland 107
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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com
