Bulls vs Hornets – NBA Handicapping
The Dallas Mavericks have hit a rough patch as of late, and after losing three straight, will aim to take advantage of a Denver Nuggets team that will be without forward Danilo Gallinari who is expected to miss a month with a severely sprained left ankle.
Date/Time: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Venue: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Broadcast: ESPN
Spread: Nuggets -1.5
Over/Under: 196
With Gallinari out, that should leave some room for Mavs’ forward Dirk Notwitzski to inflict some damage on the Nuggies skeleton crew, much like he did on Saturday, despite Dallas’ 91-88 loss at Cleveland.
Nowitzki scored 24 points in the loss to surpass Elgin Baylor (23,149) for 22nd place on the career scoring list.
Nevertheless, the Cavaliers, who trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, held Dallas without a field goal for the final 4:13.
That’s right sports fans, in spite of taking a 85-81 fourth quarter lead on Jason Terry’s 3-pointer with 4:13 to play, the Mavs’ were unable to fend off the Cavaliers who reeled off next eight points en route to snapping a three-game losing streak to Dallas.
Meanwhile, the injury-riddled Nuggets who are also without starters Timofey Mozgov, Nene, Arron Afflalo, and valuable reserve Corey Brewer, dropped their third straight to Houston on Monday at the Pepsi Center, 99-90. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The game was back-and-forth through three quarters, with Gallinari and Rudy Fernandez putting up 14 points apiece.
But a big fourth quarter for the Rockets, who went 10 for 19 from behind the arc to the Nuggets 3 of 22, was the difference.
This is truly the tale of two teams that should be playing better than they are right now. The exception is Denver’s inadequacies come from injuries, while Dallas’ has been its sputtering offense that has recorded just 86, 87 and 88 points in its last three games.
With Nene and Afflalo expected to return Wednesday, all Denver has to do is get a little more production from Ty Lawson who is second on the team in scoring behind the injured Gallinari, and they should be able get the job done.
Free Pick: Denver 90, Dallas 85–The Nuggies outplayed Dallas in the opener and lead the league with 104.0 PPG. Dallas, despite its offensive woes, has been sound defensively, allowing an average of 91.1 points.
However, the Nuggets get it done at home with a good display of their dangerous offense.
