Dallas Mavericks at Cleveland Cavaliers
January 2nd, 2011 at 7:05 PM EST
Opening Line: Dallas -5.5
Current Line: Dallas -5.5
Opening Total: 188.5
Current Total: 190
Opening Moneyline: Dallas -240 / Cleveland +200
Current Moneyline: Dallas -255 / Cleveland +205
Dallas could potentially be out 4 rotation players, and it has shown that they’ve missed All Star forward Dirk Nowtizki. Dallas, losers of their past 3, may be without Rodrique Beaubois, Caron Butler, Shawn Marion, AND Dirk Nowtizki – a sure fire recipe for disaster. Perhaps so if Cleveland wasn’t as bad as they are, but they are only 5-10 at home, and struggle to score against everyone, nevermind a good defensive team like Dallas.
“We’re short on bodies now, having some injury problems,” Nowitzki said. “But we’ve got to fight through it. Hopefully I can get back soon and Marion can get back soon, and we’ll see how bad Caron is and we’ll just go from there.”
Cleveland forward Antawn Jamison, who is averaging 19.9 points in his last 7 games tried to draw positives from the Cavs recent competitive game with the Bulls: “It’s not like we’ve been playing horribly of late. There have been a couple of stretches that dictate the outcome of the game. (Saturday), the third quarter was the difference.”
Some betting trends:
Dallas had won 17 of 18 games before dropping their last 3 without Dirk Nowitzki. They have won 8 of their last 9 road games and are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 against the Cavs. They have won 13 of their last 19 games against Cleveland but have won just 4 of the last 13 road matchups. The total has gone OVER in 12 of their last 16 in Cleveland and they have lost 4 of their last 6 matchups in Cleveland.
Cleveland has lost all 5 of their last 5 matchups and only have won 1 of 7 in their last 7 home games. They are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games. The total has gone UNDER In 4 of their last 6 against Dallas. They are 6-13 in their last 19 against Dallas, but have won 4 of the last 5.
Some key matchups:
Brian Cardinal vs. Antwan Jamison
Okay, so this has nothing to do with Brian Cardinal, but more to do with Dirk Nowitzki who is a game time decision. If Nowitzki is unable to go, Cardinal starts. He’s actually not that bad of a player, it’s just that he isn’t Dirk Nowitzki either and the Mavs depend on Dirk for a lot of their scoring. Cardinal will play with tenacity and hustle, but will it be enough to stop a player with actual skills in Jamison? Jamison has been playing well of late, as alluded to earlier, can Cardinal keep him in check? Well, he has to, because he won’t be matching his out put on the offensive end.
Tyson Chandler vs. Anderson Varejao
All things considered, this should be a wash, but Varejao has been playing great stat-stuffing basketball lately and has been making a lot of key defensive plays. His main contribution won’t be stopping Tyson Chandler, but rather helping off of him and covering the blunders of the Cavs’ slow perimeter defenders. Moreover, as the Cavs are slow to rotate, Varejao often finds himself stepping on on shooters. If he didn’t do this, Cleveland’s defense would be even worse than it already is.
All things considered, the line NBA oddsmakers have set is rather intriguing. Dallas has lost 3 straight and may be without Dirk and several other key players so they have their work cut out for them.
