The Dallas Mavericks (46-29) host the Los Angeles Lakers (31-43) Tuesday at American Airlines Center for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip-off. Below, we look at the Lakers vs. Mavericks odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
L.A. suffered a 23-point collapse in its 116-108 loss at the New Orleans Pelicans Sunday as a 4-point road underdog. The Lakers are 2-4 straight up (SU) and 3-3 against the spread (ATS) over the last two weeks.
Dallas has won three of its last four games (3-1 ATS) with the latest being a 114-100 beatdown of the Utah Jazz Sunday.
These teams are tied 1-1 SU but the Mavs are 1-0-1 ATS in their two meetings with the Lakers this season and the total is 0-2 Over/Under (O/U) in those games.
Also see: Bet Slippin’ Podcast: NBA March 29 breakdown
Lakers at Mavericks odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:25 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Lakers +550 (bet $100 to win $550) | Mavericks -850 (bet $850 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Lakers +11.5 (-110) | Mavericks -11.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 219.5 (O: -107 | U: -115)
Lakers at Mavericks key injuries
Lakers
- PF Anthony Davis (ankle) doubtful
- SF LeBron James (ankle) doubtful
Mavericks
- None
[tipico]
Lakers at Mavericks odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Mavericks 112, Lakers 107
Money line
SPRINKLE on LAKERS (+550), if at all, because they’ll most likely lose. The Lakers are 5-18 SU as road underdogs and the Mavericks are 21-6 SU as home favorites but L.A.’s spread feels like a sharp play and the ML payout is fat.
There’s no question this game means more to the Lakers than the Mavs and we know PG Russell Westbrook is itching to show he can hold down the fort without LeBron and AD. Maybe Westbrook goes nuclear, Lakers SF Carmelo Anthony and SG Malik Monk hit 3s and L.A. stuns Dallas.
L.A. plus the points is the preferred play but I’ll SPRINKLE on LAKERS (+550).
(The prediction is an honest projection of the score).
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Against the spread
The absence of LeBron makes the LAKERS +11.5 (-110) a “Westbrook team” and that’s not a that that is 11.5 points worse than this Mavs team in a regular-season game.
Westbrook averaged 27.8 points, 10 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game versus the Mavs in six career head-to-head meetings with Dallas All-Star PG Luka Doncic before coming to L.A.
A traditional high-usage rate from Westbrook might throw the Mavs off and night in, night out he can still wreak havoc on defenses. Westbrook likes to attack the rim and Dallas’s defense ranks 21st in field goal percentage versus attempts at the rim, according to CleaningTheGlass.com.
Most importantly, everyone bet the Mavericks -11.5 (-110) when news broke that LeBron was “doubtful” to play in this game. Roughly 80% of the money is on Dallas according to VegasInsider.com and the House usually wins.
Westbrook and L.A.’s market is at its lowest point and I’ll buy some stock in the LAKERS -11.5 (-110) since no one else will and we’ll be on the same side as the House.
Over/Under
PASS because my numbers align with the market so I don’t see a lot of value in betting this total.
For what it’s worth, the Lakers are 42-32 O/U and 21-15 O/U on the road while the Mavs are 25-48-2 O/U and 9-28-1 O/U at home.
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