San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks
Current Records: San Antonio 6-7, Dallas 5-7
The Mavericks will be playing the full four quarters on Saturday, but they’re expected to have things wrapped up well before that. They will challenge the San Antonio Spurs at 8:30 p.m. ET at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks have insisted on making their lastfour contests complete nail-biters, turning in a record of 0-4 during that stretch of close contests.
Last Thursday, the Mavericks didn’t have quite enough to beat the Jazz and fell 115-113.
The Mavericks might have lost, but man, Luka Doncic was a machine: he almost dropped a double-double on 37 points and nine assists. Doncic is becoming a predictor of the Mavericks’ success: when he posts at least 25 points the team is 2-1 (and 3-6 when he doesn’t).
Meanwhile, the Spurs were within striking distance but couldn’t close the gap on Friday as they fell 120-115 to the Lakers. San Antonio got off to an early lead (up 12 with 7:27 left in the first quarter), but sadly they weren’t able to maintain that momentum.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Victor Wembanyama, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 14 rebounds. The game was his third in a row with at least 30 points.
Even though they lost, the Spurs were working as a unit and finished the game with 32 assists. That’s a new trend for them: they were averaging 24.5 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last five matches they’ve averaged 33.
Dallas has traveled a rocky road recently having lost five of their last six contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-7 record this season. As for San Antonio, they now have a losing record at 6-7.
Saturday’s matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy game: The Mavericks haven’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 12.1 turnovers per game (they’re ranked fifth in turnovers per game overall). It’s a different story for the Spurs, though, as they’ve been averaging 15.3. Given the Mavericks’ sizable advantage in that area, the Spurs will need to find a way to close that gap.
The Mavericks beat the Spurs 120-109 in their previous matchup back in October. Do the Mavericks have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Spurs turn the tables on them? We’ll have the answer soon enough.
Dallas is a big 10.5-point favorite against San Antonio, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Mavericks as a 10-point favorite.
The over/under is 228.5 points.
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Dallas has won 9 out of their last 10 games against San Antonio.
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