The Los Angeles Lakers played the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night. They will stay in Big D and play Saturday night on national television (ABC, 8:40 Eastern). It’s time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Lakers-Mavericks prediction and pick.

The Lakers are 35-24 in the NBA standings, and they are 28-31 against the spread.

The Mavericks are 32-26 on the season, 27-31 against the spread.

Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening Lakers-Mavericks odds.

NBA Odds: Lakers-Mavericks Odds

Dallas Mavericks -1.5 (-110)

Los Angeles Lakers  +1.5 (-110)

Over 217.5 Points (-110)

Under 217.5 Points (-110)

Why The Lakers Could Cover The Spread

The fact that the Lakers and Mavericks played Thursday night could easily help the Lakers this time around.

Dallas beat Los Angeles on Thursday, 115-110, covering the spread and going over the total, which was 216 points. This game is not part of a back-to-back set, meaning that the Lakers have had a full day to rest and regroup. Frank Vogel's best attribute as the head coach of the Lake Show is that he has been able to get the role players on the roster to buy in and play strong, relatively consistent defense. Not having Anthony Davis or LeBron James in recent weeks has obviously worn down this team, and it has unavoidably eroded the caliber of performance from this roster, but the effort is still there.

Anthony Davis played 17 minutes on Thursday. One should not expect a noticeably increased workload for AD in this game, maybe 20 minutes at most. The difference Davis can provide is that his minutes might be higher-quality minutes in this rematch with the Mavericks. Dallas scored 94 points in the first three quarters on Thursday. If the Purple and Gold can reduce that number by 10 points, they could be in good shape if you are thinking about making a Lakers-Mavericks prediction.

One other obvious note of importance: Kristaps Porzingis of the Mavericks injured his ankle on Thursday. He is questionable for this game. Given the need for every NBA team to have its best players healthy for the playoffs, the Mavs and Rick Carlisle will probably play it safe. Maybe Porzingis will play, but he certainly won't play extended minutes. That helps the Lakers.

Why The Mavericks Could Cover The Spread

Even if Porzingis doesn't play, the Mavericks are still playing a Lakers team which won't have Anthony Davis on the floor for more than 20 minutes, and which won't have LeBron James at all. Even though L.A. is committed to defense, the larger reality is that the Lakers don't need this game. They are safely in the No. 5 seeding position. They know it's all about the playoffs, not the regular season. Dallas wants the No. 6 seed and an escape from the play-in round. There is more at stake for the home team in Texas.

Final Lakers-Mavericks Prediction & Pick

The prevalence of injuries in the 2021 NBA season has made it very hard to evaluate teams with their adjusted rosters. It's a constant guessing game. Trying to discern which role players will flourish or falter without the superstars they normally play with is a speculator's paradise. People can offer informed opinions on these players, but in an NBA season which lacks normal scheduling patterns or rhythms, and in which fans are not attending in large (full-capacity) numbers, so much of the normal NBA experience remains absent, even though this is not the Orlando bubble, which was a separate universe in its own right. The Lakers should probably play better, and the Mavericks lack Porzingis. Even though Dallas needs this game more, the Porzingis injury figures to matter to a considerable degree.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: LAL 106, DAL 101 (LAL +1.5)