NBA Betting – Thursday Picks – Dallas Mavs vs LA Lakers
Before nba betting fans turn their attention to more sports betting events this weekend, we have the NBA doubleheader on Thursday night. It’s time for our weekly hoops picks for NBA gambling action.
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MAVERICKS vs. LAKERS
Time: Thursday 10:30 ET
Venue: Staples Center, Los Angeles
Spread: Mavericks -7
Over/Under: 190.5
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IN THE TNT NIGHTCAP, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference might be on the line when the Mavericks and Lakers square off. There are more games to be played, obviously, but a Dallas win would enable the Mavs to pull even with LA in the loss column, and if the teams finish tied in the regular season, the Lakers (with a 1-2 record against Dallas) would be forced to swallow hard and take the No. 3 seed.
Both teams are on runs – Dallas has won five in a row, three of them on the front end of a current six-game road trip. The Lakers have seven straight victories. Neither streak is that unusual late in the season, when good teams are motivated to get as high a playoff seed as possible and dog teams either pack it in or suffer when players try to pad their stats.
Luck is definitely riding with the Mavericks. J.J. Barea recently announced that he is dating former Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera. Not bad for a backup point guard.
Trends:
DAL are 17-5 ATS in their last 22 vs. NBA Pacific.
DAL are 14-37-1 ATS in their last 52 Thu. games.
Over is 12-5 in DAL last 17 road games.
LAL are 2-11 ATS in their last 13 Thu. games.
Under is 28-10-1 in LAL last 39 Thu. games.
Under is 9-4 in LAL last 13 overall.
Road team is 10-3-1 ATS in the last 14 meetings.
Underdog is 15-7-1 ATS in the last 23 meetings.
Best Bet: The Mavericks have the unique distinction of playing two consecutive road games without having to travel – they played (and beat) the Clippers last night in LA. The unusually heavy line (LA -7) has everything to do with the fact that the Lakers haven’t had to play since last Sunday while Dallas will be playing its second pair of back-to-back road games in a week.
It’s somewhat of a secret that Lakers games go over fewer than any of team in the league (29-44), and Dallas should be at only about 85 percent efficiency after playing last night.
An under play at 190.5 looks promising, though it might be a good idea to pass on the side in this one.
Lawrence Paul is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog, and is a free-lance gambling and travel expert from Massachusetts.
