Phoenix Suns vs Dallas Mavericks betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA Western Conference Playoff game on TNT. Phoenix edged out Dallas by 7 points in the series opener and now the two teams meet once more before the series shifts to Dallas for the next 2 games. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Phoenix Suns
Although the score might indicate it was a close game on Monday, the Suns led that game wire to wire and they’ll now look to repeat that performance tonight in front of a packed Footprint Center. Deandre Ayton led the way in scoring with 25 points, while Devin Booker added 23 of his own as all 5 Suns starters scored in double figures. As a team they finished shooting the ball 50% from the field, which was their 7th game in a row in the postseason doing that.
Efficiency like that is unheard of, if something like that happens again in tonight’s game they’ll be in a solid position. The series opener win at home was their 6th straight triumph over Dallas in games played in Phoenix. Suns are now 7-2 SU in their last 9 played in their own arena, plus they’ve covered the spread in 5 of their last 7 games when playing as the favourite.
Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic did all he could in Game 1 with 45 points, but it just wasn’t enough as his Mavs fell into a 1-0 deficit for the 2nd playoff series in a row. That’s okay though, as not a lot of people have the Mavs coming out on top in this series, so anything they get on the road is a bonus. I expect head coach Jason Kidd to change the approach a little bit and get other players involved here as that is the only way the Mavs will stand a chance at winning.
Maxi Kleber was the only player to help out Doncic in Game 1 with 19 points, but guys like Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson scored only 8 and 13 points which just isn’t enough. Dallas is now on a 10-game losing streak vs Phoenix, however they do have 16 wins in their last 20 games vs Western Conference opponents, so they shouldn’t be discounted that easily ahead of tonight’s game.
I think the Mavs have a solid chance of covering the spread here. They are 27-18 ATS on the road this season, they can lose this game by 5 points and still cover the spread. Phoenix has failed to cover the spread in more games at home than not, so let’s go with the road team and the extra points here.
Phoenix Suns vs Dallas Mavericks & Odds
Not many people expected 235 points to be scored in Game 1 of this series, but here we are. The total has now cashed on the over in 5 of the last 6 Suns games and for the season they are 24-21 on the O/U in their own gym. In head-to-head meetings with the Mavs the last 10 games have averaged 220.4 points per game. The Mavs do like to slow things down, especially with Luka Doncic back in the line-up, but so far their last 6 of 8 games on the road have all gone over the total.
The Suns style of play doesn’t really suit them here, so they are forced to play smaller and the tempo goes up when that’s the case. The two teams combined to score 27 threes in the series opener, I don’t see why that changes tonight as both will want to assert themselves early and the best way to do that is to score a lot of points. Let’s try our luck with the over once again here.
