by Chuck Sommers
Saturday, Dec 31, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
Where to watch: BSSW-SA, BSSW-DAL
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Mavs -7; Mavs -300, Spurs +250
FanDuel: Mavs -7.5; Mavs -335, Spurs +270
BetMGM: Mavs -7.5; Mavs -350, Spurs +260
Caesars: NL
Season record
Mavs: 20-16
Spurs: 12-23
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Mavs - Spurs preview, prediction and analysis
When asked what in the world can the San Antonio Spurs do to slow down Luka Doncic, head coach Gregg Popovich submit up in as confident away as he could. They were going to do their absolute best to hold Luca to under 50 points. And if that does not explain the kind of run that the Dallas Mavericks superstar has put together over the last number of games, then I have no idea what else to tell you because it is truly magical what he has been able to do so far.
The Mavericks will face the spurs in San Antonio on Saturday and San Antonio should hope to everything wholly in the world and to the basketball gods that Luka somehow finds a way to just completely nosedive in his production. Because this man has been on an absolute tear the last week and he is absolutely going to go down as the Western Conference player of the week when the awards are announced on Monday. Luka has gone insane, and surprisingly it goes beyond what he did against the New York Knicks the other night.
Yes, there was that 60 point, 21 rebound, 10 assists triple double that no one in NBA history has come close to doing, but Doncic followed it up the next game with another triple double of 35 points in the 129-114 victory over the Houston Rockets the other night. I don't know what more needs to be said about what Luka doncic can or cannot accomplish on a basketball court but it is otherworldly in some instances. I know there was a stretch where I haven't gotten a gauge of where The Mavericks are in terms of how good they can be against better teams, but the fact of the matter remains is that they have won five straight in a landscape where some of these games should not have been this close or should have gone the result that they have, but Dallas has been in desperate need of a winning streak like this with some very key players out of the lineup.
And the fact that Dallas is now the top team in Texas for the current moment, it bodes absolutely well to what Dallas can do in this instance and in this time period. The Mavericks are right there in the thick of things in the Western Conference tied for fifth and suddenly with as well as they are playing right now during this winning streak and overall play, are looking like a top team in the league. The Mavericks have gone 5-3 against the spread in their last eight and have looked very good in the ways they've been able to win period now of course they're going to need to find a way to beat better teams than who they have beaten over the last little bit here, but there is a win against Portland that looks very good and they almost beat Cleveland without their superstar and nearly had Kemba Walker do it all by himself.
the spurs are in their own little land right now of trying to win the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes and to their credit they've actually split their last six games with three wins and three losses and are coming off a 122-115 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday. So at least San Antonio has something to cheer for, but overall not a lot.
Prediction
Since Luka came to Dallas The Mavericks have dominated the spurs it seems like almost every single time they play each other period and I don't know how that's going to translate over to this situation, but Dallas should win by a bunch and it shouldn't be even close. Mavericks 127, Spurs 95
Betting trends
Mavs are 104-68 ATS on the road in December since 1996.
Mavs are 61-36 ATS after a double-digit cover as a favorite since 1996.
Spurs are 12-27 ATS at home when playing 6 or more games in 10 days the last 3 seasons.
Projected starting lineup
Mavs:
PG: Luka Doncic
SG: Spencer Dinwiddie
SF: Tim Hardaway Jr.
PF: Davis Bertans
C: Christian Wood
Spurs:
PG: Tre Jones
SG: Devin Vassell
SF: Keldon Johnson
PF: Jeremy Sochan
C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury report
Mavs: Josh Green (elbow, out), Dorian Finney-Smith (hip, out), Maxi Kleber (hamstring, out)
Spurs: None
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
