NBA: Dallas Mavericks VS Los Angeles Lakers Pick and Predictions 01/12/2023

Game: 10:00 PM ET,  Thursday, January 12th, 2023

Venue:  Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

TV:  TNT

Mavericks: 23-19, 4th place Western Conference

Lakers: 19-22, 12th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Mavs -2.5, O/U 235.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Mavs -2.5, O/U 235.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Mavs -2.5, O/U 235.5

Mavericks: SF Reggie Bullock, PF Christian Wood, C Dwight Powell, SG Tim Hardaway JR, PG Luka Doncic

Lakers: SF Max Christie, PF Juan Toscano Anderson, C Thomas Bryant, SG Dennis Schroder, PG Patrick Beverley

A Western Conference matchup between teams that are struggling with health… but each both have a top-five player on earth.  The Mavs top-five player may be top-2… PG Luka Doncic is the real deal.  He posts amazing statlines, he has an abundance of youth…. And he has taken the greenlight to do anything on the court because he is good at all of it.  The Lakers have PF LeBron James…. LeBron is the greatest player in NBA history… yes, he has eclipsed Michael Jordan.  His production as a 38 year old man is unprecedented.  The production he has had over his 2 decade career is about to break Laker great Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time scoring record.  If he plays the next 2-3 years in order to fulfill his stated goal of playing with his oldest son… you will also see his name pop up at the top of so many all-time records that his greatness will be both undeniable and carved in stone.  The great betting opportunity in this game is to 1st) evaluate Luka and LeBron’s health status… and then compare the REST of the Lakers to see if they have a chance of stacking up to the rest of the Mavericks.

The Dallas Mavericks have won 7 of their last 10 games.  They are however on a 2-game losing streak… 1 game that Luka sat out of…. And 1 games that marked Luka’s return.  They lost their last game against the Los Angeles Clippers 113-101..  The Clippers are perfectly built to have kryptonite against the Mavs because of the plethora of long lean defenders.  In that game Luka had 43 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists.  His amazing production could not make up for his teammates being stymied by those Clippers long lean defenders.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 6 of their last 10 games, but lost their last game to the Denver Nuggets 122-109 as LeBron sat out.  It was also a very close loss ATS as the spread was -12.5 in favor of the Nuggets.  In the loss the Lakers got 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists from former superstar PG Russell Westbrook who has spent this season learning to shine as an NBA sixth man.  It is the perfect position for the poor shooter because of his ability to break down anyone’s 2nd unit players and get to the rim.  Playing sixth man could give Russell a pretty nice 3-4 year mid-level contract after his current MAX expires… Plus he will have the ability to choose anywhere as his destination.  The rest of the Lakers gave Russell very little support on either end of the court.  The Lakers are very hard up when Anthony Davis is out with injury… but that is magnified in any game that they are also without LeBron James.  LeBron is listed as probable against the Mavericks.

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DAL: 23-19, 14-26-2 ATS, 24-18 O/U, 7-13 on the road.

LAL: 19-22, 18-22-1 ATS, 24-17 O/U, 10-8 in home games.

Our prediction for Thursday, January 12th is…. Mavericks 120 - Lakers 109

Bet on the Mavs.  Vegas has given you a gift by setting the small point spread… mostly because the Mavericks aren’t very good on the road.  However, the soft Lakers roster outside of the stars is the perfect environment for PF Christian Wood of the Mavs to have a very big game.  Christian was worked into the rotation very slowly but has started to look like a 20+ 10+ everynight player…. And who on the Lakers will be able to stop him?... Thomas Bryant?... Juan Toscano Anderson?... undrafted rookie PF Cole Swider?

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The Lakers are 2-0 ATS versus Mavs at Los Angeles the last 3 seasons.

The Mavericks are 3-10 ATS as a road favorite.

The Mavs are 13-4 ATS off an upset loss as a road favorite the last 3 seasons.

Mavericks: PG Luka Doncic.  Luka is the reason to watch the Mavs. So when you are watching the Mavs pay close attention to Luka’s game.

Lakers:  PG/SG Dennis Schroder.  Dennis has had some big games of late for the Lakers.  With AD out and LeBron in and out of the lineup…. The responsibility of scoring falls into the hands of guys like this… mid-level NBA role players.  

Mavericks: Jason “Supervillian” Kidd

Lakers: Darvin “this sucks” Ham