Game Time: 10:00 PM ET, Monday, December 27th, 2021 

Venue:  Moda Center (formerly Rose Garden), Portland, Oregon

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: NL 

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  NL

Mavs: 15-17, 8th place Western Conference

Blazers: 13-19, 11th place Western Conference

The Dallas Mavericks are in 8th place in the bottled Western Conference.  A three-game streak of either winning or losing could land them anywhere from 5th to 12th place.  With so much NBA season left to play it shouldn’t feel like a pressing concern, but it is.  The Mavs have lost their last two games to the Utah Jazz on Christmas Day 120-116 and the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday 102-95.  Superstar Luka Doncic missed both those losses with an ankle injury… when Luka misses the Mavericks should lose as he leads the team in Points, Assists, and Rebounds.  After Luka the Mavs have another bonafide superstar in PF/C Kristaps Porzingas on the roster… Kristaps has all the talent and size in the world, he just seems to have regressed or receded into the background while playing next to Luka.  After those two guys the Mavericks have only role players… seriously they are a team of spare parts roughly assembled to support Luka.  They of course also have 7 players out with Covid.  A couple could test back in before game time against the Blazers, but C Will Cauley-Stein and SF Dorian Finney-Smith won’t be… along with a couple of others.  They are a team of two mega-talents… not much else… and they will be missing one mega-talent and several key pieces of the not much else.

Speaking of a team with two mega-talents and not much else… The Blazers are that exactly. A losing team firmly entrenched in the Western Conference’s 11th place who has two amazing guards.  All-time, all-star PG Damion Lilliard and redundant uber talented SG CJ McCollum.  And just like the Mavericks the two stars have been in and out of the line-up with injury and/or illness.  Monday the 26th Damion Lilliard will miss a game for personal reasons while CJ McCollum will miss multiple games with a partially collapsed lung (yes, a collapsed lung from contact while playing… athletes do recover from that).  After Damion and CJ the Blazers will be missing 5 possibly more guys.  Plus PF Cody Zeller is out with a quadricep injury.  Whatever team takes the floor for the Blazers will be composed mostly of G-leaguers. They are in such a funk that they lost their last game to the New Orleans Pelicans 111-97… in fact the Blazers have only won 2 games out of their last ten.  Rumor has it that Lilliard wants to be traded but loves the city and fans too much to say it publicly.  The Blazers should accommodate him and send him to the Milwaukee Bucks or to the Chicago Bulls… anywhere with a chance of winning big.  A gesture like that might finally balance the Trail Blazers kharma for whatever horrible secret thing they did.

Al McMordie took it on the chin on Christmas, as his hot streak came to an end, so he looks to bounce back on Sunday. Today, Big Al's unloading in the NBA on this High Roller Winner out of a 73% ATS angle. Don't miss out on the hardwood $$$$. Hop on board right now!. Go get it! Get Big Al’s 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! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Dallas is 15-17 on the season and 15-17 ATS.  They have logged 11 Overs, 20 Unders, and 1 push.  They are 7-9 in road games.

Portland is 13-19 on the season, but 12-19-1 ATS.  They have notched 14 Overs, 17 Unders, and 1 push.  They are actually playing great at home with a mark of 11-7 (on the road they are 2-12 ouch)

The Mavericks are 26th in points with 104.8 per, 25th in rebounds with 43.7 per, and 4th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9

The Trail Blazers are 15th in points per game with 108.1 per, 24th in rebounds with 43.8 per, and 21st in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  They are 17th in FG% and 14th in 3PT%... the defense is a problem, ranking 26th while allowing 111 points per game.

 

Our prediction for Monday, December 27th is…. Mavericks 105 - Trail Blazers 98

Both squads are struggling, but the best player in the game will be Kristaps Porzingas.  The Mavs have a slight advantage in availability and will win because of it.  The line on this game is a bit delayed as the bookmakers are waiting for the injury reports.  It will be safe to bet the Mavs because the Blazers simply aren’t good this year at full strength.

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Portland is 4-3 ATS versus Dallas over the last 3 seasons.

Dallas is 2-1 ATS versus Portland at Portland over the last 3 seasons.

2 of 3 games in this series at Portland have gone Over.

Mavs: Luka Doncic (ankle) Out ** 8 players are listed as out with Covid, but according to the timetable Reggie Bullock, Maxi Kleber, and maybe Tim Hardaway Jr will be back in time for this game.

Blazers: PF Cody Zeller (quad) Out, CJ McCollum (lung) Out ** 6 guys are on the Covid list and Damian Lilliard took Monday off for a personal day with no guarantee of a return.

Mavs: SF Sterling Brown, PF Kristaps Porzingas, C Dwight Powell, SG Jalen Brunson, PG Frank Ntilikina

Blazers: PF Larry Nance Jr, SF Tony Snell, C Jusuf Nurkic, PG Damion Lillard, SG Norman Powell

Mavericks

Points: Luka Doncic 25.6

Assists: Luka Doncic 8.5

Rebounds: Luka Doncic 8.0

Steals: Charles Brown Jr 2.0

Blocks: Kristaps Porzingas 1.6

Trail Blazers

Points: Damian Lillard 23.8

Assists: Damian Lillard 7.5

Rebounds: Jusuf Nurkic 9.9

Steals: Dennis Smith Jr 1.3

Blocks: Robert Covington 1.2

Mavericks:  Jason Kidd.  Coach Kidd is an NBA legend point guard who has had middling results as a head coach.  He also would make a fine wrestling heel.

Trail Blazers: Chauncey Billups:  Coach Billups is an NBA legend point guard, but not as much a legend as Jason Kidd.  He is a rookie head coach and deserves a better roster.  He would make a fine wrestling hero.