Dallas Mavericks vs Milwaukee Bucks betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game on ESPN. It’s the 2nd meeting of the season between Giannis and Luka as the Bucks pay a visit to the Mavericks tonight at American Airlines Center. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Dallas Mavericks
At 10-3 the Mavericks are one of the elite home teams in the NBA this season. They’ll be looking to get revenge for their loss at Milwaukee at the end of November 124-115. Since then a lot has happened, but one thing has remained consistent and that is the Mavs home form.
They’ve won 4 of 5 games and head into tonight’s game with a lot of confidence following wins over the Suns and Nuggets. Luka Doncic has looked unstoppable in those games, but the encouraging news for Dallas will be the recent resurrection of the play of Tim Hardaway Jr. who is putting up solid offensive numbers. This game will be a good test for the Mavs, just to see where they are at in their quest of landing a top 4 seed in the West this season. They have 15 wins in 19 home games vs Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks tend to struggle against Dallas for some reason, in the last 20 games they have only 7 wins, but one of those happened 10 days ago when the two teams met in Milwaukee. Granted, the Mavs are just not the same team on the road as they are at home, but still the Bucks should be encouraged by the result heading into tonight’s game. They too are on a 3-game win streak coming into tonight’s game, following an impressive home win over Sacramento.
Khris Middleton is slowly returning back to form following his long layoff after wrist surgery in the offseason. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday each went over 30 points in the win over Sacramento, if the Bucks want to win on the road tonight they’ll need to put in a similar effort. For a team that’s played so poorly at the American Airlines Center, I’m surprised the oddsmakers have the Bucks currently as favorites here.
It’s hard to ignore those home numbers for Dallas in head-to-head meetings. Losing the first meeting will be a motivating factor for Luka and co. to get revenge here, so I’m backing the Mavericks to win as underdogs.
Dallas Mavericks vs Milwaukee Bucks Predictions & Odds
Scoring never comes easy when you play the Dallas Mavericks, so we were all shocked when the first meeting of the season finished 124-115 in favor of the Bucks. That was one of the higher point totals over the last 10 meetings between the two teams, as they’ve averaged 227 points per game during that stretch.
Milwaukee’s road record reads 1-8 on the O/U this season, they’ve cashed on that bet in 5 straight away from home as well. It’s no secret the Mavs love to play slow, especially in home games. They have the slowest paced offense in the entire NBA, averaging just 98.1 possessions per game. Both of these teams are in the top 15 in defensive efficiency (Bucks are 2nd, Mavs are 13th), so I’m expecting a lot of defense to be showcased in tonight’s game. Take the under.
