Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, October 21st, 2021 

Venue:  State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

Where to Watch: TNT

DraftKings:  Spread: Hawks -2.5:  O/U: 224.5

BetMGM:  Spread: Hawks -3:  O/U: 2246.5

Caesars:  Spread: Hawks -2.5:  O/U: 224.5

Mavericks: 0-0 Western Conference… Finished last season 42-30 5th place West

Hawks: 0-0, Eastern Conference… Finished last season 41-31 5th place East

This battle will be going on for years.  The stars of this matchup are Trae Young for Atlanta and, of course, Luka Doncic for Dallas.  The two hot, young stars were traded for each other on draft night a few years back  The Mavericks gave Trae and a future first round pick to grab Luka who was taken 1 pick ahead of Trae.  The Mavs won the trade!  Luka is for real and really an MVP candidate every season.  He plays a lot like LeBron James, doing enough of everything to be great.  Luka scores, Luka passes, Luka shoots, Luka rebounds..... Yet Atlanta and Trae didn’t lose!  Trae scores better than a young Stephen Curry (remember Steph took a few years to get his health and play straight).  He shoots from anywhere and he passes like the Angel of dimes.  He is the embodiment of that awkward Slam Magazine issue 1 headline about Jason Kidd “Krazy Mad Moves”... I told you it was awkward.  That trade created an entire continuous career comparison.  Luka won the early rounds, but there are lots of years of NBA basketball ahead and Trae is holding his own.

Jack Banks went 2-0 last night, including winning his first NBA release of the new season on the Golden State Warriors! The former offshore consultant is on a 65% run with his last 26 NBA releases going back to last season! His next 10* Bank Job Beatdown goes tonight! Take it to the bank with Jack Banks!   Get Jack Banks’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB… get positive value from all your bets!

RECENT FORM

The Mavs have the best player in Luka Doncic, but ATL has the better team.

The Mavericks ranked 17th in the NBA on offense last season.  They scored 112.4 points per game on 47% shooting. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis eat up all the usage.  They get the ball and they make something happen… separately, not together.  They definitely need to be separated or complemented with a third star who can bridge the gap.  

Last season the Atlanta hawks had 9 guys average double digits in points per game, if you count Lou Williams who came in after a mid-season trade. The Hawks ranked 13th in the NBA on offense. They scored 113.7 ppg on 46.8% shooting.  Trae is their star and he scores big, but he has the best young nucleus around him of any of the young stars in the NBA.  John Collins gets 17 ppg, De’Andre Hunter (after missing lots of time) gets 15 ppg, heck even Cam Reddish (the other pick from the Luka Doncic trade) has started to get 11.2 ppg off the bench.  Trae’s team is better than Luka’s team and Trae’s team is younger with the reasonable expectation of improving on every number.  

Dallas was ranked 9th in defense last regular season.  They gave up 110.18 ppg.

Atlanta was ranked 12th in defense in the NBA last season.  They gave up 111.38.  What you should remember about Atlanta last year is that both Hunter and Collins missed time to recover from injury…  They excelled in the 2nd half of the season under new coach Nate McMillan… so the stats in 2020-21 could go either way on both sides of the ball… it was a season of two teams and two identities.

Our prediction for Thursday, October 21st is… Hawks 114 - Mavericks 105

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free NCAAF Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to

join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this Mavericks/Hawks preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.  Get help with all your college football picks, National Football league, NCAA brackets, or any prop bets on your season schedule. 

Atlanta is 47-30 ATS in home games over the last 3 seasons.

Atlanta is 30-24 ATS in non-conference games the last 3 seasons.

Dallas is 46-27 ATS in road games over the last 3 years.

Dallas is 31-22 ATS when the total is greater or equal of 220 over the last 3 seasons.

Injury Report:

Mavericks: None reported

Hawks: PF Onyeka Okongwu (shoulder) Out indefinitely

Hawks:  PG Trae Young, SG Bogdan Bogdanovic, SF De’Andre Hunter, PF John Collins, C Clint Capela

Mavericks:  PG Luka Doncic, SG Tim Hardaway Jr, SF Dorian Finney-Smith, PF Kristaps Porzingis, C Dwight Powell

Hawks:

Points: Trae Young 25.3 per game

Rebounds: Clint Capela 14.3 per game

Assists: Trae Young 9.4 per game

Steals: Kevin Hueter 1.2 per game

Blocks:  Clint Capela 2 per game

Mavericks:

Points: Luka Doncic 27.7 per game

Rebounds: Luka Doncic 8 per game

Assists: Luka Doncic 8.6 per game

Steals:  Josh Richardson 1 per game (no longer on team)

Blocks: Willie Cauley Stein 0.8 per game 

Mavericks:  Jason Kidd.  NBA legend who got the job, regardless of the toxic nature of relationships with women in his past, in June after longtime coach Rick Carlyle resigned?, retired?  One thing is for sure Jason Kidd has Krazy Mad Moves.

Hawks: Nate McMillan.  Former NBA player of 16 seasons and former head coach of Indiana for 4 seasons took the job on an interim basis last season after Lloyd Pierce was fired.  Nate is a standup guy and checked with Lloyd’s feelings before taking the gig.  Lloyd gave his blessing and immediately Nate turned the Hawks around.  He took the team from dog to playoff run.  He busted a lot of gamblers who previously used the hawks as a moneyline ATM.

League News:  

We saw Lebron, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook play together in the Lakers first matchup… it didn’t look pretty.  Russ had an awful game.  The team as a whole looks old and defensively challenged.  It's a long season.

We saw James Harden and Kevin Durant play without Kyrie in the Nets first game.  They looked undisciplined and poorly prepared.  It’s a long season.