Denver Nuggets at Dallas Mavericks, American Airlines Arena, Dallas, TX
Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 8:30 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Mavs -5
Current Line: Mavs -5
Opening Total: 203.5
Current Total: 202
Money Line: Mavs -215 / Nuggets +185
The Denver Nuggets (47-30) and Dallas Mavericks (53-24) are both coming off losses and need to finish the regular season strong if they want to stay in their current playoff positions. The Nuggets blew an opportunity to pick up ground on Oklahoma City at home Tuesday in a 101-94 loss to the Thunder and will try to bounce back Wednesday against the struggling Mavericks (-5).
Denver was coming off a 95-90 road victory against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday but saw its six-game winning streak end against Oklahoma City in the first game of a home-and-home series that will be completed on Friday. In between, the Nuggets will look to hand Dallas a fourth consecutive loss, which could set up a first-round playoff matchup between the teams.
The Mavericks are just two games ahead of the Thunder with five games remaining in the regular season and could lose the third seed in the Western Conference playoff race if their struggles continue. They have had two days off after suffering the last of three straight losses during a six-game road trip, going 0-3 against the spread in those games. The team’s defense remains a concern, as three of the last four opponents have scored 100 points or more.
Dallas had won four in a row prior to the skid with the UNDER cashing each time. The Mavs allowed less than 83 points per game during the winning streak, and they will be facing a much-improved Denver team that has thrived since trading star Carmelo Anthony to New York.
The Nuggets are still 15-5 straight-up and 16-3-1 against the spread without Anthony and had held five of their previous six opponents to 94 points or less before losing to Oklahoma City. The UNDER has cashed in Denver’s last five games along with nine of 10, which could provide quite a contrast to the last meeting with Dallas that ended with a 121-120 victory on February 10.
Anthony scored a game-high 42 points in that game before fouling out while Aaron Afflalo scored 19 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help end an 11-game winning streak for the Mavs. Afflalo is averaging a career-high 12.6 points per game this season and remains out with a hamstring injury that has sidelined him the previous two games. The UNDER had cashed in the previous three meetings, with Dallas winning two of them SU and ATS.
Now that you have read this NBA betting preview featuring the Mavericks & Nuggets, check out the NBA odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks.
