NBA Picks: Dallas Mavericks at Sacramento Kings
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Dallas Mavericks will go for their 10th straight win on Wednesday night when they visit the Sacramento Kings for the second time this season. Dallas barely squeaked by with a 105-103 win back on Dec. 4.
Taking a look at the NBA spreads for tonight’s games, oddsmakers have the Mavericks favored by 5-points over the Kings with the total set at 196.
The Mavericks winning streak nearly came to an end Monday night against the Cavaliers, but were lucky enough to escape with a 99-96 win. If the Mavericks can beat the Kings, it will be the second time this season they have won at least 10 in a row.
Sacramento continues to play well, but it isn’t resulting in a lot of wins. The Kings had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Jazz on Monday, but ended up losing the game 107-104.
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The big concern heading into this game for Dallas is whether or not Dirk Nowitzki will be able to play. In the win over Cleveland, Nowitzki injured his wrist in the first half, but still managed to finish the game, and is expected to be able to play against the Kings. Nowitzki finished with just 12 points on 5-11 shooting.
Jason Terry once again had a huge game for the Mavericks off the bench. Terry scored 23 points to go along with five assists. Shawn Marion also had a big game with 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Dallas got 60 of their 99 points from their reserves against the Cavaliers.
One other thing worth noting is Peja Stojakovic made his debut for the Mavericks with eight points and five rebounds in 20 minutes. Stojakovic played his first seven seasons and part of his eighth with the Kings.
Sacramento really killed themselves against the Jazz with 20 turnovers. The fact that they were that sloppy with the ball and still nearly won the game, says a lot about the improvements this team is making. The Kings are just 4-8 in their last 12 games, but seven of those eight losses have came by seven points or less.
All five starters scored in double-figures for the Kings in their lost to Utah. DeMarcus Cousins led the way with 25 points, Tyreke Evans finished with 21, and Jason Thompson added 14 on 6 of 10 shooting.
The Kings should have plenty of confidence against the Mavericks. Dallas needed to go on 15-4 run in the final five-plus minutes to beat them at home earlier this season. Nowitzki and Evans each led their team with 25-points.
While I don’t know if the Kings are going to have what it takes to win the game, I think they are going to keep it close right down to the wire, and should be able to cover the 5-point spread.
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