basketball | Thursday, December 29, 2022 12:35 PM (Revised at: Thursday, December 29, 2022 2:31 PM)

Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Best Bet: Will Airlines Center Witness Greatness?

Aleksa Drobnjak

Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Best Bet: Thursday, December 29th

On the back of the historic performance by Luka Doncic, the Mavericks have managed to clinch their fourth win in a row and now they are sitting one win away from the direct playoff spot in the West. Although very interesting to watch, the Rockets did not manage to find any success in the ongoing season since they are the bottom team in the league.

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Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Preview
Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Best Bet

Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Preview

Fri, Dec 30th. 01:30 (UK time)

If the MVP race had started in the last 2 months, Luka would be #1 for the majority. The form he’s playing in is beyond impressive, and obviously, he’s helping the Mavs get into the immediate playoff ranks. Dallas is only 14th in the league in defensive rating at 106.7, which is a good basis for our tip tonight. They get their wins in games with high total points.

Dallas is 3rd in FG % with nearly 50% on a nightly basis, combined with a high number of possessions and fast basketball tonight will give us the edge over the line. Luka will likely rest if the game gets out of hand, and Dallas’ 2nd unit is the fastest in the league with 120 possessions per 48 minutes. It seems Jason Kidd has finally found the formula, and that is a faster offence. We expect the same tonight, as the Mavs have won their last 3 games in which they averaged 235 points. Finney Smith (hip injury), M. Kleber (tendon injury) and J. Green (elbow injury) will be out for the Mavs tonight.

The Rockets are a story in themselves. They are focused on developing their young and dynamic trio of Alpren Sengun, K. Porter and J. Green. The consequences are predictable, they lose a lot of games but cover the handicap line in most of them. Rarely do they get blown out, so we are betting on the Over Total Points tonight. If the Rockets manage to keep up with the Mavs with their defence (worst in the league), we see the game at 240+ total points. As for health issues, only J. Tate (SF) is “questionable”.

Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets Best Bet

Both teams play an extremely fast-paced offence, so if they manage to hit their shots, which they have done in a high percentage in recent games, we are fine with an Over at 220.5. The Mavs have won their last few games with a high total score and we believe J. Kidd will have similar instructions for his players tonight. Considering the game will be played at the American Airlines Centre, it’s hard to imagine the Mavs scoring fewer than 125 points tonight.