The Dallas Mavericks head to Buzz City on Wednesday night for a showdown with the Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Mavs are coming off home and away games against the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder, beating both clubs at home and losing to them on the road. The Mavericks have lost six in a row on the road and look to break that in Charlotte on Monday.
Rookie sensation Luka Doncic leads Dallas with 19.6 points per game aside from 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. DeAndre Jordan is putting up a double-double effort at 11.1 points and 14.2 rebounds per contest. J.J. Barea is scoring 11.2 points while leading the team with 5.8 assists per game.
Dallas is scoring 110.6 points per game which is 17th best in the league right now. The Mavericks also rank 22nd is passing at 22.7 assists per game and are 12th off the glass at 45.5 rebounds per contest. Dallas is allowing the NBA’s15th best scoring defense at 110.4 points per game.
The Hornets are currently the best team in the NBA’s Southeast division with an even 18-18 record. Charlotte is coming off a big 25-point win over the Orlando Magic but the team has won just two out of its last five games played. They look to widen their lead over the Miami Heat in their division.
Kemba Walker leads the Hornets with 25.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Jeremy Lamb is the team’s second-leading scorer with 15.3 points per contest while Malik Monk is adding 10.7 points per contest. Cody Zeller leads the team in rebounds with 6.2 per but went out of their last game with a fractured hand while Michael Kidd Gilchrist is the team’s top shot blocker at 1.0 block per contest.
The Hornets are the 7th best scoring team in the NBA with their 113.7 points per game scoring average. Charlotte also ranks 16th in passing with 24.1 assists per game and they are also 22nd in rebounding with 44.2 rebounds per game. The Hornets have the NBA’s 17th best scoring defense at 111.1 points per game allowed.
The Mavericks are 2-8 SU in their last 10 games played. Dallas is also 0-5 SU in their last five games on the road. The Hornets are 2-3 SU in their last five games and Charlotte is 14-7 SU at home this season. Head to head, these teams have split their last 10 meetings.
Both these teams are trying to get over the .500 hump right now and position themselves for a playoff spot. However, the Mavericks are coming off a loss to the Thunder and will be playing their third game in four nights against the Hornets who’ve had a one day rest after their massacre of the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Charlotte is a decent 14-7 SU at home this season and are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games as home favorites. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are just 2-16 SU on the road this season and Dallas is 1-9 SU in their last 10 road games played.
The law of averages says that Dallas will win a road game soon but I don’t think it will be in Charlotte against a rested Hornets team that is coming off a 25 point win over the Magic. Fatigue should be a factor here as no matter how young Dallas’ core is, they have played on the road four times (five including this one) since December 20th. We’re picking the Charlotte Hornets to beat the Dallas Mavericks on 1/2/19
Dallas is 5-1 ATS in their last six games played. The Mavericks are 3-6 ATS in their last nine games on the road. Charlotte is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Hornets are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games played and are 12-9 ATS at home this season. Head to head, these teams have split their last 10 games played.
The Mavericks are 5-1 ATS in their last six games against Eastern Conference teams. Dallas is also 5-1 ATS in their last six games overall. On the other hand, the Hornets are only 1-4 ATS in their last five games against Western Conference teams and 1-4 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win. But while most of the trends point to Dallas, I think the most important one is that the Mavericks are 2-16 SU on the road. The Mavs have been woeful on the road and I think the home team easily covers the two point spread here. Prediction: Hornets -2
The total has gone over in six out of the last nine games played by the Mavericks. The over is also 4-2 in Dallas’ last six road games. The total has gone over in four out of the last five games played by the Hornets. Charlotte has seen the total go under in nine out of their last 13 home games when playing against Dallas.
The Mavericks are yielding 114.9 points per game on the road this season. The Hornets are the 7th best scoring team in the league right now but don’t have elite defense at just 17th in scoring defense this season. The over is 4-0 after an ATS loss by the Mavericks and 6-1 in their last seven road games. The Hornets have seen the over go 4-1 in their last five games overall and 4-1 in their last five games versus teams from the West. I like the over every time I have Kemba Walker. Prediction: Over 222.5
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