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The Dallas Mavericks will face the Phoenix Suns in a Western Conference battle on Friday. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Mavericks-Suns prediction and pick.
This game should be one of the best matchups of the night. The Mavericks are currently the fourth seed in the West behind a stellar start to the season from Luka Doncic. Dallas is lacking wins over quality teams, so this rematch against Phoenix will be a good measure of their team.
The same can be said about the Suns, but they have the advantage of coming off a win against Dallas. In fact, Phoenix has won a whopping 10 games in a row. Another win would help the Suns secure their spot as a top-three team in the Western Conference.
Here are the odds for the Mavericks-Suns game, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Mavericks-Suns Odds
Dallas Mavericks: +8 (-106)
Phoenix Suns: -8 (-114)
Over: 210.5 (-110)
Under: 210.5 (-110)
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Why The Mavericks Can Cover The Spread
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The Suns are one of the best teams in the West, but their record against the spread in this particular instance isn't great. Dallas is currently 4-4 against the spread when playing at home. To make things even better for the Mavericks, Dallas managed to cover this eight-point spread in the last game against Phoenix, which took place a couple of days ago. The Suns haven't really faced a team as good as Dallas since the early days of the season, so it's easy to see how the Mavs can cover an eight-point spread against a slightly overrated Phoenix team.
While it's true that the Suns have only lost twice this season, both of those losses were big upsets. Phoenix dropped games to the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings, two teams that are fighting to enter the playoff picture in the West. There's a decent chance that the Suns come out flat against an opponent that they should beat easily.
Why The Suns Can Cover The Spread
To be frank, Dallas just hasn't been that good. Their record doesn't reflect their actual level of play, but their stats obviously do. The Mavericks have been a below-average offensive team, averaging only 104 points per game on the year. They also haven't shot well, as they've only earned a 43% shooting percentage, good for the 23rd in the league. The defensive side of things haven't been much better. Dallas is allowing opponents to shoot 46% from the field and 35% from 3-point range. Both of those numbers are in the bottom 10 in the NBA, so the Suns shouldn't have much trouble scoring here.
Everything Dallas does runs through superstar guard Luka Doncic, and Doncic is outfor this matchup. The Mavericks have below-average numbers all around with Doncic in the lineup, so it's easy to see those numbers getting significantly worse with him out of the lineup. There's just no way that Dallas' already poor offense will be able to keep up with Phoenix without the team's superstar playing.
Final Mavericks-Suns Prediction & Pick
This is an easy pick. Phoenix should coast to a win by double digits here. Lock in the Suns and don't look back.
Final Mavericks-Suns Pick: Phoenix Suns: -8 (-114)
