The Dallas Mavericks (37-40, 15-24 Away) travel to face the Miami Heat (40-37, 25-14 Home) Saturday in what should be a slow-paced game. Dallas was beaten by the Philadelphia 76ers 116-108 at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday. With 24 points, Luka Doncic was the top scorer in the loss.
Kyrie Irving was another key contributor with 23 points and six rebounds. The Mavericks are 11th in the Western Conference. Miami lost their third in a row on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, falling to the New York Knicks 101-92. Gabe Vincent had 21 points in the losing effort to lead the team.
The Heat are seventh in the Eastern Conference. The teams are meeting for the final time this season. Dallas will be looking for a season sweep against Miami after getting the win in the only earlier meeting 115-90 at American Airlines Center on January 20. Doncic led the Mavericks with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Victor Oladipo had 20 points in the loss.
Doncic is averaging 32.8 points per game, second-highest in the league, to lead the Mavs in scoring this season. Doncic also is contributing 8.1 assists, sixth-most in the league, and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Jimmy Butler (22.6 ppg), Bam Adebayo (20.7), and Tyler Herro (20.4) have powered the Heat’s offense. Adebayo also has posted 9.3 rebounds per game, while Butler has distributed 5.1 assists per game.
Half-court execution will be of utmost importance in this matchup that showcases two of the NBA’s slowest-paced teams, as the Heat and the Mavericks rank 29th and 27th, respectively, in possessions per game.
The Mavericks have come up short more often than not in recent games at FTX Arena, losing seven of the last 10.Dallas is 3-7 in the last 10 games with an average margin of -1.5 (112.5-114.0). Miami has split the last 10 (5-5), allowing 114.4 points per game on average while scoring only 111.2 (-3.2 margin).
MAVERICKS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Jaden Hardy: 19.0 | 11.9 | +7.1
Christian Wood: 17.0 | 26.0 | -9.0
Points per game:
Kyrie Irving: 18.8 | 26.3 | -7.6
Rebounds per game:
Christian Wood: 3.8 | 7.4 | -3.6
HEAT HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Max Strus: 11.4 | 17.0 | -5.6
Points per game:
Kyle Lowry: 7.5 | 11.5 | -4.0
Rebounds per game:
Jimmy Butler: 3.0 | 5.9 | -2.9
Assists per game:
Jimmy Butler: 7.5 | 5.1 | +2.4
Kyle Lowry: 3.8 | 5.1 | -1.3
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Dallas Mavs (-105)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
