The Dallas Mavericks (0-1) host the Utah Jazz (1-0) for Game 2 in their Western Conference first-round playoff series. Monday’s tip-off at the American Airlines Center is set for 8:30 p.m. ET (NBATV). Below, we look at the Jazz vs. Mavericks odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
Utah beat a Luka Doncic-less Dallas 99-93 in Game 1 Saturday, barely covering as 5.5-point road favorites and the Under easily cashed on a 208.5-point total. These teams split the four quarters and the “four factors”.
Jazz All-Star SG Donovan Mitchell rallied from a slow start in Game 1 to score 30 of his game-high 32 points after halftime, sinking 10 of his 11 second-half free-throw attempts.
Jazz at Mavericks odds 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 1:24 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Jazz -220 (bet $220 to win $100) | Mavericks +175 (bet $100 to win $175)
- Against the spread: Jazz -5.5 (-107) | Mavericks +5.5 (-115)
- Over/Under: 205.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Jazz at Mavericks key injuries
Jazz
- None
Mavericks
- PG Luka Doncic (calf) doubtful
[tipico]
Jazz at Mavericks picks and predictions
Prediction
Jazz 106, Mavericks 103
Money line
Slight LEAN to the MAVERICKS (+175), if at all, because I like them to cover the spread and Dallas could have won Game 1 by making a few more free throws or finishing off a couple of defensive possessions with rebounding.
Furthermore, the Jazz (-220) have suspect ball security and a bad defensive free-throw attempt rate. The Mavs had half the turnovers of the Jazz in Game 1 and their dribble penetration should result in a bunch of visits to the foul line.
However, it’s tough to get behind Dallas here since Luka probably won’t play in Game 2 and Utah has the second-, third- and fourth-best players in this series otherwise.
The prediction is an honest projection of the score.
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Against the spread
BET the MAVERICKS +5.5 (-115) because their ATS loss Saturday was a bad beat, the Jazz -5.5 (-107) looked disjointed on offense and this is a Pros vs. Joe’s game in the betting market.
SF Bojan Bogdanović carried Utah early, scoring 20 of its 45 first-half points, and Mitchell took over in the second half. Otherwise, the Jazz struggled to get clean looks and didn’t utilize their size advantage since C Rudy Gobert attempted just 1 field goal and got all 5 of his points at the foul line.
However, Gobert’s defense kept Utah in this game and the Mavs ball-handlers were getting into the paint at will, but couldn’t finish because of his presence. If the Mavs get the same dribble penetration in Game 2 then Dallas could get Gobert into foul trouble and/or collapse Utah’s perimeter defense.
Also, according to Pregame.com, more than three-fourths of the cash is on the Mavs but roughly 60% of the bets placed are on the Jazz.
Since professional bettors put up more dough than your average Joe, the cash column is considered the sharp side of the market.
BET the MAVERICKS +5.5 (-115).
Over/Under
PASS because I don’t have a strong enough grasp of the total here. Part of me thinks Game 2 ping pongs Over the total since Game 1 went Under by 16.5 points.
But, Jazz-Mavericks are 2-6 O/U in their last 8 meetings, Utah is 1-11 O/U in the last 12 games as road favorites and Dallas is missing the center of its offensive gameplan.
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