Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The Dallas Mavericks can get a step closer to moving up in the Western Conference today. All they'll need to do is beat a team that is struggling to gain any momentum at all. They'll face off against the Los Angeles Lakers, who were booed at home recently.

The Lakers also lost to the New Orleans Pelicans a few nights ago. Needless to say, things aren't looking good for LeBron.

The Los Angeles Lakers will only have a few more chances to right the ship. If they don't start winning games now, they may lose their way out of the play-in position.

The Western Conference is full of incredible teams, and the Lakers used to be one of them. In order to get back to that place, they need to beat Dallas. Unfortunately, they're without Anthony Davis.

Dallas Mavericks: Led by Luka, Dallas just beat the Warriors

In terms of wins, you don't get much better than beating the Golden State Warriors. The Mavericks have done quite well after losing Kristaps Porzingis to a trade. In turn, they received Spencer Dinwiddie, a great player to come off the bench for Doncic.

The Mavericks' key to success doesn't hinge on offense. In fact, their offense is one of the worst-scoring in the NBA.

Averaging only 106.69 points per game, the Mavericks have to rely on defense. This defense has established itself as the second-best in terms of points allowed. They'll use this relentless defense to get the Lakers out of position and force low-percentage shots.

The question is, can they hold off LeBron James for the entire game? Or could there be an upset on the horizon?

Los Angeles Lakers: Desperate for a win, L.A. hosts Dallas

It could be a good thing that the Lakers are at home, but there hasn't been a lot of love lately. Only a few nights ago, LeBron and the Lakers were booed by the crypto.com Arena.

The fans have a right to boo at this point; the Lakers are grossly underperforming. Errant passes and missed shots makes the team look sloppy, something we aren't used to seeing from LeBron.

In order to defeat the Mavericks, the Lakers will need to get their offense going early. Perhaps it's time for them to look to players such as Trevor Ariza to pick up the slack.

There's words going around that LeBron is playing injured as well. The mistrust of teammates and playing with injuries all lead to an unsuccessful team. So, which of these teams is the better bet on Tuesday?

Our pick for the Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers

The Dallas Mavericks come into this game as 5.5-point favorites. This is quite a lot of points when taking the Mavericks offense into consideration.

The Lakers average 110.50 points per game, much higher than the Mavericks. Even if the Mavericks slowed down the Lakers' offense, we don't think the margin of victory would be large. For this reason, we'll take Los Angeles +5.5.

The Lakers have been pretty awful against the spread this season, but they play Dallas really well. Over their last ten meetings, the Lakers are 7-3 against Dallas and 6-4 ATS. We'd also recommend taking the under here due to the defense of the Mavericks.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Los Angeles Lakers +5.5, UNDER

Prop Picks

Dallas (-120) UNDER 111.5 Points

Dallas is averaging 106.7 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 25 in the league. Scores have gone UNDER in 28 of the Mavericks’ last 41 games overall.

With Dunkel predicting an LA win by the score of 107-106, take the Mavericks (-120) to go UNDER their Vegas team total of 111.5 points against the Lakers.

Luka Doncic (-120) UNDER 31.5 Points

Doncic is coming off a 34-point performance at Golden State. But prior to that, he had scored only 31 points combined in the previous two games. Overall, Doncic is averaging 25.3 points per game on the road this season compared to 29.3 ppg at home. In three games against the Lakers last year, he averaged 25.0 ppg.

With Dunkel predicting the Dallas offense to stay UNDER their team total tonight, take Doncic (-120) to go UNDER his Vegas total of 31.5 points against the Lakers.

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