New York at Dallas
Time: 7:30 PM ET
Line: DAL -6.5
M/L: DAL -275; NYK +235
Total: 201
Betting Odds courtesy of Bovada
The Dallas Mavericks are 19-14 on the season and 11-5 at home, and it will play host to the New York Knicks Sunday night in a game NBA oddsmakers at Bovada are finding the Mavs to be 6.5-point favorites. New York is just 4-12 on the road this season and at 10-22, the team is currently tied with the rebuilding Orlando Magic.
For a team saddled with a huge payroll and limited future pick prospects, the Knicks scene is bleak, even to the point that Carmelo Anthony for Blake Griffin trade rumors began to be reported.
It turned out there was no weight to the rumors (at least according to Clippers coach Doc Rivers), but Anthony is certainly looking as though he may be one of the great players to never win a ring. He’s having a statistically productive year, but the team has hurt from missing Tyson Chandler and the Knicks defense is abysmal.
Anthony is posting 26.2 points, 8.9 rebound and 2.9 assists per game, but isn’t receiving a lot of help from the Knicks other perimeter players like J.R. Smith and Raymond Felton. Felton is out with a hamstring injury, to make matters worse. Amar’e Stoudemire is washed up and now just basically a big body. Stoudemire may even be a perfect microcosm for what occurred with the Knicks: big dollars, big hype, little delivery.
Mark Cuban appears committed to letting the Mavs remain mediocre while Dirk Nowitzki retires in peace. Dirk has seen his minutes decrease greatly, but he is still one of the most dynamic 4-men in NBA history and he’s averaging a team-high 21 points per game while posting a great PER of 23.2.
Monta Ellis, ever known for his scoring ability, has meshed well with Dirk and free agent acquisition Jose Calderon. Ellis is averaging 20.2 points and 5.9 assists per game, and Calderon is posting 12 points and 4.8 assists per game. The Mavs have an odd collection of cast-aways, but the team is competitive, and that may be enough for Cuban.
NY Trends: 4-0 ATS in last 4 when opponent scores at least 100 points in previous game; 0-6 ATS in last 6 on Sunday; OVER 5-1 in last 6 following SU loss.
DAL Trends: OVER 4-0 in last 4 vs teams with losing road records; OVER 5-0 in last 5 at home; 1-6 ATS in last 7 at home vs teams with losing road records.
Head-to-head: OVER 6-2 in last 8 meetings; Knicks 7-16 ATS in last 23 meetings; Knicks 4-9 ATS in last 13 meetings in Dallas.
