Lakers vs Mavericks Betting Line
Two of the top three teams in the NBA’s Western Conference battle for playoff position as the Los Angeles Lakers (46-20), winners of 8 of their last 9, travel into Dallas (47-18) to take on the Mavericks. The home club is needs to get back on track if they hope to maintain their grip on second place and fight off the surging Lakers.
This game could ultimately decide the location of Game 7 in the Western semi-finals if the top teams hold service in the playoffs. Game time is 9 pm Saturday night at the American Airlines Arena with Dallas favored by 1.
Latest Lakers vs Mavericks Betting Lines
The lines are close at every online sportsbook right now. At the moment, everyone has the Lakers +1. For more NBA lines, visit our NBA betting lines, or our homepage for all other sports betting lines page.
- Sportsbook.com: Lakers +1 -110, Mavericks -1 -110.
- Bodog.com: Lakers +1 -110, Mavericks -1 -110
- BetUS.com: Lakers +1 -110, Mavericks -1 -110
LA Lakers vs Dallas Mavericks Preview
Los Angeles Lakers
The NBA was abuzz around the trade deadline with talks about Carmelo Anthony coming to LA to save the Lakers. Questions like “are the defending champs done for the year” poured from the mouths of the experts after the Lakers got whipped at home by the Bsoton Celtics. Well, no more. Since the All-Star break, the Lakers have won eight of their last nine including a victory over San Antonio in San Antonio, but lost to the Heat in Miami on Thursday.
Kobe Bryant is averaging 26 points and six assists over his last five games and is among the league leaders in scoring again. He is one of the top defenders in the league as well, shutting down high scorers like Manu Ginobili and LeBron James just this week alone. His teammates have also picked up their defensive intensity as well as scoring output.
Oft-injured center Andrew Bynum is now scoring almost 12 points per night and grabbing nearly eight rebounds while power forward Paul Gasol scores 18.6 points and snares 10.5 boards nightly. The two 7-footers give LA a big defensive advantage in the paint. Derek Fisher leads the Lakers running game, and Lamar Odom (14.5 points per game) does most of the finishing. Shannon Brown adds 9.3 points off the bench as the back-up point guard.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks are 8-2 in their last ten games but have dropped two of their last three. Point guard Jason Kidd averages 8.5 points, 8.3 assists and almost two steals per game. His targets are shooting guard Jason Terry with 16.4 points plus four assists per night, and sixth man Shawn Marion who adds 11.6 points in 27.7 minutes off the bench.
The big gun in Dallas’s arsenal however, is 7-footer Dirk Nowitski. He’s averaging 23 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 53.1% from the field this season, including an amazing 42.5 percent from three point land. This is impressive scoring range for such a big guy. DeShawn Stevenson (6.0 points per game) and Tyson Chandler (10.4 points per game) are huge contributors on any given night, allowing the Mavericks some versatility.
LA Lakers vs Dallas Mavericks Prediction
The Lakers are the league’s hottest team while Dallas is struggling. It appears to be all LA, but the Mavericks are excellent on their home floor. Can LA rip apart Dallas like they did the Spurs last weekend? Tough call but it’s doubtful so look for the Mavericks to send LA home with a loss in the range of 102-99. With the Lakers only getting 1 point, we’re taking Dallas to cover the spread.
