Sacramento at Dallas
Time: 6 PM CT, NBA LP
Spread: DAL -6
Total: 225
Odds c/o 5dimes
Two of the surprise teams in the NBA will clash at 6 PM (CT) on NBA League Pass. Both Sacramento and Dallas are above .500 this season due to the emergence of their respective young talents, and the Mavericks will be 6-point favorites as the teams meet in a game with an over/under of 225 points, according to NBA oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes.
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.
SAC
The Sacramento Kings have turned it around. The team is 15-13 and it has won five of its past seven, though it still lingers out of the playoff picture in the rugged Western Conference standings.
Key behind the turnaround has been the play of three of its improving youngsters. Buddy Hield is finally settling in as a major NBA scorer, averaging just shy of 19 points per game while adding 5.2 board and 2.5 assists per game. De’Aaron Fox has improved a lot in his second NBA season and is averaging 18.1 points and 7.6 assists while leading the Kings with a PER of 18.7.
And amazingly, Willie Cauley-Stein has found both consistency and offense, and he is now looking like the anchor center many figured he would be after his four years playing for John Calipari at Kentucky. WCS is averaging 14.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.75 blocks/steals per game while displaying far more consistency and disability than he had in his first two NBA seasons.
Also, rookie Marvin Bagley is looking a lot like a young Jermaine O’Neal as he finds his footing in the NBA. While he is seeing just 23 minutes a night, the rookie is averaging 12.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while leading the Kings in blocks per game at 1.04.
With that quartet of talented youngsters, the Kings also mix in the sharpshooting of second-year guard Bodgan Bogdanovic and the defense of Iman Shumpert. Sacramento now finally seems to have the depth and consistency it had lacked in years past, and while this still will likely be another trip to the lottery following the 2018-19 season, the Kings have the cap flexibility, picks, and the talent in place— to finally turn things around after 11-years straight of playoff-less basketball.
