Game Time: 8:30 PM ET, Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 

Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Mavs -3.5; O/U 207.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  Mavs -3.5; O/U 207.5

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Mavs -3.5; O/U 207.5

WynnBet: Spread: Mavs -3.5; O/U 208.5

Raptors: 21-20, 9th place Eastern Conference

Mavericks: 25-19, 5th place Western Conference

A battle of opponents from different conferences.  Both of these teams need to stack wins and both have been lately.  The Raptors need those wins to finish the climb from 11th place to back into the top eight.  Things were looking great until a recent spate of losses stalled the progress… still they are 9th place now and finding their footing.  The Mavericks have also been on the rise.  Since we rang in the New Year with a New year’s Eve win for the Mavericks the team has risen 3 spots in the standings… in fact they have only lost once in 2022.  Both teams are also getting healthy.  The wave of players sidelined from Covid is diminishing… the real NBA season seems to be back on.  The trade deadline is approaching… it’s time to strike.

The Toronto Raptors have won 7 of their last 10 games with 7 wins ATS.  It’s not all roses in Toronto as they did lose to the Detroit Pistons (which is totally unforgivable this season)... the other two losses were to the Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat both teams are on a roll and loaded with talent.  The Raptors are starting to fit together better and it is showing.  The team’s on court leader is clearly PG Fred VanVleet who is leading the team in scoring and assists, PF Pascal Siakam who was assumed to eventually be the team’s star player is crashing the boards and has gradually accepted that he is best suited as the 3rd option.  Does that make Fred the 1st option… No.  The rising star and future face of the Toronto Raptors will be and must be SG/SF Scottie Barnes.  Barnes is wicked talented.  He is a multi-tool basketball player that is just getting his feet under him as a teenage rookie in the NBA… The real Raptors are 2 seasons away.  Still they have enough to get back to being a playoff contender this year… they just have to lock in and play.

The Dallas Mavericks took some lumps this season.  Prozingis missed time with injury and Luka Doncic missed time from injury… they both had covid absences. Some feelings were hurt in the earlier part of this season when everyone started pointing out that All-NBA, All-star, point guard Luka Doncic had gotten a little chubby and appeared winded late in games… a guy with Luka’s usage rate can not afford to be out of shape.  He explained the weight gain away as maybe he enjoyed the off-season a little too much.  All the kerfuffle did was highlight the Mavs ultimate weakness… They have two stars that must be on the same page night in and night out… or they simply are vulnerable.  SF Dorian Finney-Smith is the third best player on the roster and he is not top 12 at his position in the NBA… the rest of the roster is made up of fantastic NBA role players who maybe are better suited coming off the bench than being starters.  The Mavs are working it out though.  They have won 9 of their last 10 games.  The one loss was definitely a fluke as it came against the New York Knicks

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The Raptors are 21-20 on the season, but 22-19 ATS.  They have logged 23 Overs and 18 Unders.  They are 9-9 in road games.

The Mavericks are 25-19 on the season, but 23-21 ATS. They have notched 13 Overs, 30 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 13-8 in home games.

The Raptors are 22nd in scoring with 107 ppg, 15th in rebounds with 45.2 per game, and 15th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  Shooting woes North of the border… 27th in FG%, 20th in 3PT%, and 23rd in FT%.  They do play a fine defensive game at 11th while only allowing 106 ppg from opponents.

The Mavericks are 25th in scoring with 105.5 ppg, 22nd in rebounds with 43.9 per game, and 3rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.9.  They also have shooting woes at 20th in FG%, 25th in 3PT%, and 20th in FT%.  They play a stout defense at 3rd while only allowing 102.7 ppg from opponents.

Our prediction for Wednesday, January 19th is….  Raptor 111 - Mavericks 108

The Raptors are putting it all together.  It is worth taking Toronto to have the 3.5 points in your pocket in what is shaping up to be a close game.  The real bet here is the Over/Under… definitely go OVER.  The teams average defensive points allowed, combined… comes to 208.7… so the O/U is set 0.7-1.2 less than the simple average.    Take the Raptors, take the Over, parlay them if you have the stones.

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Dallas is 3-2 ATS versus Toronto over the last 3 seasons.

3 of these 5 games have gone Under the total.

Toronto is 8-4 ATS after scoring 100 points or less thi season.

Toronto is 13-7 ATS against teams with a winning record this season.

Raptors: SF Khem Birch (nose) Out ** SG Gary Trent Jr. (ankle) Probable ** PG Goran Dragic (personal) has missed all season.

Mavericks: PF Maxi Kleber (knee) Probable ** SG Sterling Brown (foot) Out ** SG Reggie Bullock (knee) Probable

Raptors: SF OG Anunoby, PF Pascal Siakam, C Precious Anchiuwa, SG Scottie Barnes, PG Fred VanVleet

Mavericks: SF Dorina Finney-Smith, PF Maxi Kleber, C Kristaps Porzingis, SG Jalen Brunson, PG Luka Doncic

Raptors

Points: Fred VanVleet 21.9

Assists: Fred VanVleet 6.7

Rebounds: Pascal Siakam 8.4

Steals: Gary Trent Jr. 1.9

Blocks: Chris Boucher 1.0 

Mavericks

Points: Luka Doncic 24.6

Assists: Luka Doncic 8.8
Rebounds: Luka Doncic 8.6

Steals: Dorian Finney-Smith 1.2

Blocks: Kristaps Porzingis 1.8

Raptors: Nick Nurse.  NBA Champion coach.

Mavericks: Jason Kidd.  Off-putting comic book super villain.