Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Clippers
Time: 10:30 PM ET
Spread: LAC -10.5
Total: 212
Betting odds c/o Bovada
Both the Dallas Mavericks and L.A. Clippers won their opening night matchups.
The Mavs routed Phoenix 111-95 as it put eight players in double figures: Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Zaza Pachulia, Raymond Felton, Dwight Powell, Charlie Villanueva, J.J. Barea and Devin Harris.
The Mavs are a bit thin at center, where Pachulia started and saw 25 minutes. There are no true big backups on Dallas’ active roster, and the team needs JaVale McGee back from injury but there is no timetable on his recovery from a leg injury.
Chandler Parsons is also out with a knee injury, while Deron Williams is questionable with a knee issue. The Mavericks are already beat up, missing three rotation players. Vegas oddsmakers believe it to be too much for Dallas to overcome, setting the line 10.5 points in favor of the Clippers.
L.A. has a clean bill of health with no injuries to report. The Clippers held off the Sacramento Kings on opening night, winning 111-104. Blake Griffin battled DeMarcus Cousins’ scoring binge quite well with 33 points, eight boards and four assists of his own.
Chris Paul chipped in 18 points and former Duke god J.J. Redick added 15. The Clippers were negative-7 on the boards but came up with 17 blocks/steals and forced 15 turnovers. Also to the Clippers credit, it shot 52.5 percent from the field.
Key Matchup Tonight: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Blake Griffin
At this point in Dirk’s career, it is going to be hard to keep up with an active athlete like Blake Griffin. The Clippers power forward could be in for a big night, and to be honest Nowitzki has never been a plus-defender. Griffin averaged 24.1 points per game in 2013-14, and he could be on pace to best that this season.
In the opening game he attempted 20 field goals in 38 minutes, and Griffin should see 20 shot attempts every night, at a minimum. Last year Griffin shot 50.2 percent from the floor while getting 6.4 free throw attempts, but that figure too was 8.4 in 2013-14. Griffin needs to find that aggressive streak to get to the line where he shot 72 percent last season.
Dirk saw just 21 minutes in the Mavs opener, scoring 11 points and grabbing nine boards. Nowitzki averaged the second lowest scoring average of his career last season, and his rebounding fell under six per game. He is still a good shooter and capable player, but we may see Dirk becoming more of a role player in the twilight years of his career.
Dallas will hope it has the balance around Nowitzki to keep pace with the Clippers because the days of expecting Dirk to score 20-plus may be a memory at this point. He will still have his nights but the Mavs are going to have to continue to get a full-team effort and great bench play to stick this season.
