Don’t expect a fast-paced game when the Dallas Mavericks (24-22, 16-7 Home) welcome the Miami Heat (25-21, 11-12 Away) on Friday.Miami dominated the New Orleans Pelicans 124-98 at Smoothie King Center on Wednesday. Bam Adebayo was a top performer with 26 points.
The Heat are the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Dallas dropped their third in a row on Wednesday at American Airlines Center, falling to the Atlanta Hawks 130-122. Luka Doncic topped the scoresheet in the loss with 30 points. With 22 points and nine rebounds, Christian Wood also had an impressive game.
The Mavericks are the fifth seed in the Western Conference.The teams are meeting for the first time this season. Miami and Dallas split their matchups last season, winning one apiece.
The Mavericks got the win in the last meeting 107-99 at FTX Arena in February 2022. Doncic led the Mavericks with 21 points, while Maxi Kleber played a key role with 19 points and five blocks.
Jimmy Butler had 29 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. The Heat have been led this season by Adebayo and Tyler Herro, who are averaging 21.5 and 20.8 points per game, respectively. Adebayo also has grabbed 10.1 rebounds per game, ninth-most in the NBA. Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry is dishing 5.6 assists per game.
Doncic has powered the Mavs on offense, averaging 33.7 points per game. He has the No. 1 scoring average in the NBA. Doncic has also averaged 8.8 assists, fourth-most in the NBA, and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Half-court execution will be critical in this matchup that showcases two of the NBA’s slowest-paced teams, as the Heat are 29th in possessions per game while the Mavericks are 28th. The Heat are an impressive 8-2 in their last 10 games at American Airlines Center.
In the last 10 games, Miami is 7-3 with an average margin of +5.8 (111.8-106.0). Dallas has gone 4-6 over the last 10, allowing 122.6 points per game on average while scoring only 115.2 (-7.4 margin). The Mavericks are averaging 112.9 ppg for the full season while allowing 112.7.
HEAT HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Gabe Vincent: 26.0 | 14.7 | +11.3
Points per game:
Tyler Herro: 14.5 | 20.8 | -6.3
Assists per game:
Jimmy Butler: 3.4 | 5.2 | -1.8
MAVERICKS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Dorian Finney-Smith: 21.0 | 13.8 | +7.2
Rebounds per game:
Dorian Finney-Smith: 9.0 | 4.2 | +4.8
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
NO Pelicans (+100)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
