NBA Betting Odds – Mavericks Looking for Revenge against Visiting Spurs

NBA Betting Odds – San Antonio vs. Dallas in Battle of Texas

Spurs (+1½) vs. Mavericks (-1½)
(O/U) 196½
9:30 PM ET

The San Antonio Spurs (4-4 SU, 4-4 ATS, 5-3 O/U) were touted as Western Conference title contenders after making several brilliant transactions this offseason.

After adding veterans like Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess, not to mention, impressive rookie DeJuan Blair, the Spurs are still in search of their new identity – and first road win of the season.

The Dallas Mavericks (8-3 SU, 8-3 ATS, 5-6 O/U) didn’t get nearly as much notoriety for their offseason additions, but have played like a legitimate conference title contender so far this season.

The longtime Western Conference rivals will both get to show their stuff when they square off at American Airlines Center tonight at 9:30 M ET.

Mavs at a glance
The Mavericks have won three straight games, covering the NBA point spread each time out. The Mavs made my pick in the BetUS NBA locker room pay dividends on Monday night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 115-113 in overtime to cover the NBA point spread as 1-point road favorites behind Dirk Nowitzki’s 32 points and 11 rebounds.

Spurs at a glance
San Antonio had its modest two-game SU and ATS winning streak snapped on Saturday, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 at home and not even coming close to covering the NFL point spread as an 8.5-point home favorite. Tim Duncan scored a team-high 22 points in a losing effort.

What the Mavericks Need to do to win
Continue playing the kind of defense they have so far this season. With both ballclubs averaging just over 101 points per game this season, Dallas needs to keep the Spurs somewhere in the vicinity of the 94.6 points per game they are allowing.

What the Spurs Need to do to win
San Antonio beat Dallas 92-83 exactly one week ago - without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, by turning up the defense. The Spurs shut down all of the Mavericks except for Dirk Nowitzki in that game and will need to get back to the stellar brand of defense they’ve mostly displayed during the Gregg Popovich era.

Analysis: I’ll keep this pick short and sweet by simply saying that I like the Dallas Mavericks to win this contest and extract some serious revenge for their pitiful loss to the Spurs last Wednesday.

Until the Spurs can start showing some sort of consistency, then I’ve got to avoid them a bit or wager against them unless a ‘lock’ wager jumps off the board in one of their upcoming contests.

With San Antonio dropping all four of its road games this season, I say take the Mavericks to cover the NBA point spread in this matchup.

NBA Free Picks: Mavericks -1½ Points