Things aren’t going accordingly to plan for the Dallas Mavericks, and they have another tough test ahead when they travel to Salt Lake City to face the Jazz. If you are looking for games with a lot of scoring, look away, there’ll be no style points awarded in Utah.
Mavericks at Jazz
Spread: Utah -7 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 189 points (-110)
Dallas falls to 1-6 with a home loss to Phila
The Dallas Mavericks continue to disappoint. The more experienced team had gotten into an up-tempo game with the Philadelphia 76ers, gave them confidence and tempo they like, and it cost them the game. The season is quickly going down the drain for Dirk and company, as they slipped to a 1-6 record with the 110-112 loss in a back-and-forth game on Saturday night. Small margins of defeats are nothing to cheer about, even though some parts of the Mavericks game are showing obvious improvement.
The Dallas Mavericks allowed 16 three-pointers by a Philly team that missed their top outside threat in Redick, to undone their own phenomenal shooting. Led by Harrison Barnes’ 7 three-pointers, the Mavericks shot a blistering 19-of-40 from the three-point range, and 51.4 percent overall. It was not enough. While the fast-paced game aided their looks when shooting the ball, it has also led them to 17 turnovers. Even more troubling, the Mavericks had only 3 offensive rebounds the entire game. Extra possessions allowed to the Sixers cost them dearly, but the game was decided on a pair of missed free throws of Yogi Ferrell, who had a chance to send the game into overtime. It’s unfair to pin the loss on him of course. The stats look good. Six Mavericks scored in double digits, and all of them shot well. The Mavericks started Noel again, but he played sparingly despite the Sixers coming out with a big lineup.
Incredibly, Dirk Nowitzki was the only starter with a positive plus-minus with +24 (!), and he only scored 11 points and didn’t catch any rebounds. Yes, zip. He was not as bad on defense as usually, but this stat doesn’t go tell you the whole truth. Barnes and Matthews are those around this team revolves around and their good offensive showing is encouraging. Except, the Jazz will guard them. Whether Carlisle continues to start the same unit is beyond my knowledge, so check on the team news on game day. Also, Devin Harris did not travel to road games to stay with family, and he might continue to stay behind.
Place: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Date/Time: Monday, October 30th, 2017. 9:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: ATTSN-RM, FSSW
Return home feels good for the Jazz
The Utah Jazz are only 3-3, but are yet to lose a game in Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. Denver, Oklahoma City and most recently the L.A. Lakers tried and failed to conquer the fort. The things haven’t been running so smoothly on the road, where the Jazz failed to win in any of the games, including Phoenix. To be fair, they had a tough schedule to start the season with, and once these bottom teams came, the Jazz players kind of played down to the opposition. They failed to score 100 points in either of the last five games (they did so in the opener), and since a lot of those tanking team think just scoring and are built to have plenty of firepower, the Jazz sometimes can’t hold them low enough. On Saturday, they had no such troubles against Lonzo Ball and the Lakers.
The Jazz won 96-81, holding the opposition to 38 percent shooting and 5-of-22 from the downtown. Meanwhile, their shooting stroke came back, well, at least for most of the players. Five players scored in double digits, and Rudy Gobert nor Joe Johnson were among them. In fact, Gobert had a quiet game, taking just 5 shots. Johnson took two, missed them both, and finished with 1 point. No worries, they were just fine, and Gobert played some impressive basketball protecting his own rim. They just took a back seat to their teammates who played with great energy. Rookie Donovan Mitchell led the team in scoring with his 22 points off the bench, continuing to make his case for rookie accolades, and Rubio did his part with 21 of his own. Favors, Ingles and Hood all scored in teens, and if not for too many turnovers, the Jazz would be happy about their offense.
This is the second of four consecutive home games for the Jazz, so they would very much like to extend their home win streak.
Mavericks at Jazz Game Trends & Prediction
I bet both Mavericks and the under for a disappointing outcome against the Sixers, but Dallas is better then they get credit for and I’ll be looking for both those bets whenever I get a chance. After all, they are 3-3-1 against the over/under, and both of their away games stayed below the line. They didn’t do well against the spread, and so far fading them was the correct call. Dallas is 2-5 ATS after NBA-high seven played games in first two weeks.
The Jazz is 4-2 against the spread this season, with no overs played. With one push and five unders, they are as good as it gets when it comes to betting the total. However, in the last 6 meetings between the two sides, total points went over the line 5 times.
Admi-Rank: Neither of these two teams had a good week. The Mavericks did improve on the really bad outlook they gave us in Week 1, but the results are not backing them up and they continue to slide towards the worst group of teams. The Jazz have slipped twice and then responded, but are deservedly under 80 now. There’s no doubt which team is superior though.
We don’t get to see a lot of games between two teams who both enjoy playing the old-fashioned half court game. With Dallas, we already had two of those as they played Memphis. It will be a good experience for them, as playing Utah is a grind. Every possession matters, so giving the ball away like they did in last two games, will hurt Mavs badly. Anything but a home win in a low scoring affair would be an aberration.
If you had only recently started investing in the NBA games, the 189 total points line must have looked really scary to even consider betting under it. However, this was a common line a few seasons back, and these dinosaur team are coming from the past. The fair number on this game is 184, so thank you books, I’m taking the under. The Utah Jazz is set as a 7-point favorite, just slightly off my projection of 7.5, so there’s not enough value to take any spread wager.
My Pick: (no wager on the spread)
Total: Under 189 points (-110)
