Dallas at Phoenix
Time: 9:30 PM CT, TNT
Spread: PHO -6.5
Total: 209
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Dallas Mavericks are 15-11 and will visit the struggling Phoenix Suns as 6.5-point underdogs in the second half of a Thursday night TNT doubleheader. The over/under is set at 209 points for the game, which will air at 9:30 (CT).
PHX
The Phoenix Suns are just 4-24 this season, possessing a bottom-third defense that allows 114.1 points per game while the Suns manage to score just 104.1 itself, ranking worst in the Association. The point differential is -10.0. Phoenix is also just 3-11 at home, where it hosts the Mavericks tonight.
Phoenix has a few great top talents, but it cannot seem to find much rhythm or continuity on the defensive end. Devin Booker is averaging 24.5 points per game and 7.0 assists, but his efficiency has been questionable with a PER Of just 17.3 due to his 44 percent shooting and 31 percent three-point shooting. TJ Warren has rounded into one of the better undersized forwards in the league, but his tough defense has gone unnoticed on a team so poor in that respect. Warren also averages 17.6 points per game in just under 30 minutes a night.??
The Suns have been quite pleased with No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton. Ayton looks seasoned and is a good rim protector. He is averaging 17.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.48 blocks/steals per game. The Suns ideally would like him to swat more shots, but his overall defense has been solid for a rookie.
Outside of that top-3, the Suns start to fall off.
Last year’s lottery pick Josh Jackson has fallen out of the starting lineup, seeing just 17 minutes a game to average seven points per contest. The Suns have some nice pieces intact at the top of the roster but need depth, a point guard, and a defensive identity, where it currently has none save its sieve identity in giving up so many while scoring so few itself.
DAL
The story in Dallas has largely been the play of sensational rookie Luka Doncic. He leads the team in scoring at 19.1 points per game, while adding 6.5 rebounds and ranking No. 2 on Dallas in assists at 4.2 per game. Dennis Smith Jr. plays alongside Doncic in the backcourt, and while he initially had trouble settling in with the sensational rookie, Smith seems to be benefiting from making plays to Luka while he plays off the ball. Smith is averaging a team-best 6.2 assists per game while adding 13.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per night.
?And the Mavs have done all of this entirely without superstar Dirk Nowitzki. While no one is sure exactly what Dirk has left in the tank, the Mavericks are turning towards the future with Smith and Doncic. Even Harrison Barnes has been efficient (by his standards) and ranks No. 2 on Dallas in scoring at 16.8 points per game.
Veterans Wes Matthews and DeAndre Jordan round out a solid starting lineup, and Jordan is doing his part to prove he can thrive without Chris Paul feeding him lobs. Jordan is averaging 11.5 points and 13.3 rebounds per game while adding 1.68 blocks/steals, in a down year for his shot blocking.
Dallas is a much better team than expected, but for those in tune with Doncic’s amazing play overseas prior to coming to the Association, perhaps this is not such a huge surprise after all. Dallas is now looking like it has a real direction under Doncic whose talents are quite hard to compare. He does not get it done with foot speed, not with athleticism, but rather with a ton of skill and some great instincts that presumably are a result of Doncic having played professionally since his early teens while overseas. The Mavericks previous identity was built on a German Nowitzki, and now it is building around Doncic with perhaps one of the best young prospects to enter the league in the last half-decade or so.
