The Dallas Mavericks continue their soul-searching season with a visit to the nation’s capital, where they will see the Wizards. Washington has had some ups and downs, including losses to the Lakers and the Suns, so they’ve surely learned not to underestimate any opponent – or have they?
Mavericks at Wizards
Spread: Wizards -10 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: Over/Under 210 (-110)
Another day another loss for the sorry Mavericks
The Mavs have been busy. They had a tough schedule that’s still not easing up and multiple sets of back to back games so they’ve already played 11. This number allowed them to be the first team to reach 10 losses. They’ve won only once and lost last six games, most recently in Minnesota, 99-112. Tough times in North Texas. Despite having a mix of veterans and some youngs that have potential, they appear heading to the lottery on a fast lane.
What’s most disappointing about Dallas season, is that they keep trying the same things that don’t work. I have respect for what Carlisle had done in the past, but I have no other option but to pin it on him. It’s not working. Dirk playing anchor should have never been tested, and the Mavericks can’t find a working rotation because he doesn’t want to offend any of his veterans. They also refuse to admit that Dennis Smith isn’t yet ready to start – he might be a future cornerstone or a long time starter, but he’s costing them games right now. In Minny, he was one of the better players, and that speaks volumes. The Mavs tried to change things in the starting lineup, inserting Mejri at center, but this experiment was ditched after only a few minutes. The Wolves grabbed an early double-digit lead against the porous Mavs defense, and only Barnes’ 17 first-half points kept them within a striking distance. The Timberwolves’ lead ballooned to 28 points in the third quarter and both teams emptied benches for the final stretch. Nine Mavs players played at least 20 minutes and we had a chance to watch Withey, Clavel, Kleber and the rest of the merry bunch. The Mavericks were blown out despite shooting 46.5 percent from the field, but the snail pace stopped them from reaching 100 points yet again.
Finney-Smith did not play in Minny due to a sprained knee, and he’s not going to dress in Washington either.
Place: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Date/Time: Tuesday, November 7th, 2017. 7:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBCSWA, FSSW
The Wizards sustain Raptors comeback attempt, win without Wall
Once again, the Washington Wizards continued their Jekyll and Hyde dual personality showing. Playing against teams they should defeat, usually at home too, they tend to fade and underperform. On Sunday, in a hostile environment and playing a very solid team of Toronto Raptors, they came up with a super win, 96-107. Oh, and I guess I forgot to mention – without John Wall.
There’s no doubt that Wall is their absolute glue guy and the best player. In this day and age when the fantasy basketball is a prism through which performances are judged, he might not be appreciated enough for the stuff he’s doing for the Wizards. However, for one night, they’ve managed to cope without him. A quick, strong start was the key for that. The Wizards managed to jump out in front 18-6 and 26-10 in the first quarter and this sucked the air out of the arena and frustrated the Raptors players. Washington led by as many as 19 points during the second quarter and 62-46 at halftime. Beal had 22 points in the first half and Porter added 10. Meanwhile, Lowry got tossed for arguing with the officials, neutralizing the advantage Toronto had at the point guard position. The Raptors still managed to pull within three in the last quarter, but ran out of steam. Beal (38 points, 5 boards, 4 dimes), Porter (19 points, 5 boards) and Oubre (10 points, 5 boards) combined to shoot 9-of-15 from the three-point range, a crucial factor in Wizards’ success. On the other side, they’ve held the North to just 5-of-24 from deep. Neither team shot well from the stripe.
Wall is questionable to play against Dallas, and with Lakers and Atlanta games coming up, the Wizards may be inclined to give him enough time to heal the injury completely. He is a tough guy and wants to be on the floor if he can walk, so it’s still up in the air.
Mavericks at Wizards Game Trends & Prediction
The Dallas Mavericks have not covered in the last five games, but they did come real close twice, within a point. On the other hand, the other three were blowouts. Overall, they’ve done some serious damage to their backers wallets, going 2-9 against the spread. Yikes. The last two game were played under the set total points line, as they were set high in 210s. For the season, the Mavs have gone 5-5 against the over/under, depending largely and mostly on the opposition they play against.
The unpredictable Wizards have been 4-5 this season, going 0-4 at home and 4-1 on the road. They’ve also played over the total points lines in each home game, but are overall just 5-4. Too bad that this game is played in D.C. and against a sub-.500 team. It’s been their nemesis of sorts.
Admi-Rank: Decline of the Mavs continues with each loss, so they are now way below the NBA average, where they projected before the season. The Wizards previous bad losses are somewhat cleaned up with a good win, but they still have to show their good face here to stop the slow but steady downtrend.
Not having Wall will hurt the Wizards against any opponent. Also, despite all the low expectations for the Dallas team this season, don’t think that these players don’t want to win, and if they are given a chance, they’ll gladly grab it to stop this ugly looking streak. However, it’s up to the Wizards to provide this opportunity or to squash it. If they come out with the same fighting mentality like in Toronto the other night, and jump in front, the Mavs will surely think — oh, here we go again — and the bad moral will kick in.
The books are not risking it, waiting to see if any official news on Wall’s status is released after the morning shootaround on the game day before setting up the offer for us. Don’t worry, I’ll have you prepared as usual – here are the fair lines for both cases:
(Wall playing) – Washington -10 and o/u 210 points
(Wall out) – Washington -7 and o/u 205 points
Regardless, I will suggest you to go with the over and to wait on the status update on John Wall if you would like to make a pick on the spread.
My Pick: (odds yet to be released)
Total: Over 210 points (-110)
