Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks Betting Line

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*Winner! Dallas beat the spread, and we also won the o/u.

The Miami Heat (9-7) travel today, November 27th to play the Dallas Mavericks (11-4). This is a big game and both teams could use a victory. The Heat have been surprising a lot of people this season, but not in a good way. They’re only slightly above .500 at this point, with excuses coming from players and coaches alike. Although LeBron James has gone to Miami, it seems he left his talents in Cleveland.

Still early in the 2010-2011 season, the Miami Heat have posted a paltry 2-4 record on the road and they’re definitely going to need to improve on that. They’ll have a chance to do so against the Mavericks where 3 of their 4 losses have come at home. Dallas has been doing much better on the road so far this year, the reason for their 11-4 record.

At the Players Only Sportsbook, the latest Heat vs Mavericks spread is just +2 for the Heat, which makes sense considering the Mav’s weak play at home. Regardless of the spread, I’m picking Dallas to win. They’ve won 8 of their last 10, and 4 in a row. Miami is 5-5 in their last 10, coming off a 99-90 win over the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday, the 26th. At 3-13 overall, Philadelphia is terrible, so Miami gets no brownie points for that win. Dallas also played yesterday, dealing the San Antonio Spurs just their second loss of the season. Major brownie points for the Mav’s. This confidence should roll into tonight’s game against Miami.

Wade has been slowing down a bit in recent games and is only averaging 21.4 PPG now, but James has been picking up the slack and is now averaging a team high 23.5 PPG. Bosh has also started finding his groove a bit and is now chipping in with 17.4 PPG and 7.2 RPG on average after a slow start to the season.

There is no doubt that Miami has enough talent on the team, but a lot of the time on the court they look lost. They don’t set-up plays properly (if at all), with Wade & James trying to do everything on their own. They aren’t playing team basketball right now, something the Mav’s excel at. Dallas is only averaging 97.07 PPG so far this season, but they’ve been holding opponents to just 92.53. Both of these teams are going to be focused on the defensive side of the ball and the game should go to whichever team is hitting more shots. Bet Now

Nowitzki is second in the league with 26.3 PPG and will need to score at least that many on Saturday if the Mav’s want a chance at winning the game. Jason Kidd and Jason Terry also need to have a good game in order for the Mavericks to be successful against Miami. If these two can get hot from the field then it might be a long night for the Heat. It’s difficult to drive against Miami, but if you can shoot a high percentage from mid-range they can be beat.

I’m also taking the over at 189. Both teams are very solid on defense, but if either team can get their offense going, 189 could go down in flames.

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