The Dallas Mavericks look to keep their season alive on Wednesday night.
Dallas has fallen out of the playoff equation as they have dropped 7 out of their last 10 games played. At 37-39 SU on the season, the Mavericks have the same record as the OKC Thunder but OKC owns the tiebreaker. In their last game, the Mavs blew out the Indiana Pacers 127-104.
Philadelphia has also struggled as of late, allowing the Boston Celtics to overtake them in the East Standings. Heading to this game, the Sixers trail the Celtics by two games for the 2nd seed in the East. Philly has won six out of their last 10 games played but heads to this game with a three-game losing streak. In their last game, the Sixers dropped a 116-111 contest to a hard-fighting Denver Nuggets team.
The Mavericks need every game right now as they have dropped out of the Top 10 in the Western Conference. Although they are tied with the Thunder with a 37-39 SU record, OKC owns the tiebreaker so they need to finish with a better record to enter the play-in tournament.
In their last game, the Mavs beat the Pacers 127-104 as 7.5-point favorites. Dallas was led by Luka Doncic who finished with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Doncic is 2nd behind Embiid in scoring this season at 32.9 points per game. He has scored at least 25 points in each of his last 5 games played.
Dallas is 15-23 SU when playing away from home this season. The Mavericks are at the bottom of the East leaderboard with 38.6 rebounds per contest. They are led by Luka Doncic’s 8.6 boards grabbed per contest. Jaden Hardy is making an average of 3.1 three-pointers per game in his last 10 games played for the Mavericks.
The Sixers are already in the playoffs. What they want now is to stay where they are or even move up to the 2nd spot. What they don’t want to do is fall to the 4th spot. Philly heads to this game with a three-game losing streak. In their last game, they were beaten by the Nuggets in Denver.
Joel Embiid and James Harden did not play in their last game. Without the two, it was Tyree Maxey who waxed hot with 29 points as they lost outright but covered the 10-point spread. Embiid is the NBA’s scoring leader at 33.3 points per game while also grabbing 10.2 rebounds per contest. Maxey is putting up 20.5 points per game while Harris is putting up 15.0 points per contest.
Philadelphia is 26-11 SU at home. They rank 6th in the Eastern Conference with 25.1 assists per game. With Harden out, Embiid is the team’s top assists guy with 4.2 dimes per contest. Tyrese Maxey is putting up 21.8 points and 3.8 rebounds while also shooting 53.6% from the floor over his last 10 games played for the Sixers.
The Mavs are 2-1 SU in their last 3 games played against the Sixers. Dallas is 1-4 SU in their last 5 games played in Philadelphia.
Dallas Mavericks SU trends:
Philadelphia 76ers SU trends:
The Sixers look to get back on track with the regular season about to end. After dropping a 116-111 assignment at Denver, the Sixers have now lost each of their last 3 games played and four out of their last five overall.
Both Joel Embiid and James Harden did not play against Denver. Without their two stars, Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points to rally the Sixers from a 22-point deficit to make the game more interesting in the final minute of play. Maxey has stepped up in Harden’s absence, scoring at least 21 in his last six outings.
Embiid exited Philadelphia’s last win against the Chicago Bulls with calf soreness. He had a 46-point performance against the Golden State Warriors last Friday and recorded a 28-10 double-double against the Suns the next night before sitting out the game against Denver.
The Mavs beat the Sixers 133-126 last March 2. Since then, Dallas has been just 4-8 in 12 games played and has been in a steady decline. However, they are coming off a 127-104 win over Indiana last Monday to snap a four-game losing streak. Luka Doncic scored 25 points while Jaden Hardy contributed 20 points on 8-12 shooting. Javale McGee also added 10 points and a pair of blocked shots in just 10 minutes of action.
With their struggles, the Mavs have dropped outside the Top 10 Tomorrow will be the third of a crucial five-game stretch where they will try to catch up with the 10th-seeded OKC Thunder. Dallas and OKC have identical 37-39 records but the Thunder own the tiebreaker.
Meanwhile, the Sixers have fallen 2 games off the 2nd-seeded Boston Celtics. They are also protecting a two-game lead against the Cavs. Unless anything drastic happens, Philly will likely finish 3rd in the East. Still, they need to win this game because they need to have momentum heading to the postseason. I like the Sixers here because while both teams have struggled each of their last five games played, Philly has been the better team all-season long and with Embiid expected to play in this game, the Sixers should win this game.
Prediction: Philadelphia 76ers
The Mavericks are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played against the 76ers.
Dallas Mavericks ATS trends:
Philadelphia 76ers ATS trends:
Mavericks
+4.5 (-110)
76ers
-4.5 (-110)
Odds from BetOnline as of 03/29/2023
These two teams are on opposite poles as far as covering the spread is concerned. The Sixers have covered 58.1% of their games while the Mavericks only have a cover rate of 39.7%. Embiid is expected to make his return on Wednesday. And for sure, he will be out to dominate to swing the MVP noise back to his side.
Dallas doesn’t have the defender to control Embiid. Powell is a good defender but he isn’t strong enough to stop Embiid. Meanwhile, Christian Wood is a good scorer but isn’t as good on the defensive end. With no one to stop him, Embiid will have a big game here. Not only will the Sixers win but also cover the spread.
The under is 5-1 in the last six games played between these two teams. The total has gone under in six out of their last seven games played in Philadelphia
Dallas Mavericks over/under trends:
Philadelphia 76ers over/under trends:
These are two of the slowest teams in the NBA this season. The Sixers rank 27th in tempo while Dallas is next at 28th. Philly likes to slow down the game and feed the ball to Joel Embiid at the low block. Meanwhile, the Mavericks let Luka use up the clock so they can find the best available shot.
Dallas has seen the total go under in four out of their last 5 games played. Philadelphia has gone under the total five times in their last six outings. This one should be a low-scoring affair.
Prediction: Under
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