Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz Betting Preview

>

 

— Saturday, December 25th Dallas Mavericks @ Utah Jazz

There’s another Western Conference game going on on Saturday evening. On Christmas Day, we’ll have the Dallas Mavericks against the Utah Jazz. The Mavericks are trying to get up further in the Western Conference.

Taking on the Utah Jazz will be a tough test for the injury-riddled Dallas Mavericks. Especially with Luka Doncic being out of the lineup.

The injury list is a lot shorter for the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Currently, they’ll only have two players missing for Saturday night’s game. They come in as big favorites here due to all the injuries to the Dallas Mavericks.

The question is, can the Utah Jazz cover the spread laid out for them. Even with the injuries to the Dallas lineup, covering 12.5 points is going to be tough.

Dallas Mavericks: Nearly the entire starting lineup is out

The starting lineup for the Dallas Mavericks is down to their last player. The sole player left from the starters is Dorian Finney-Smith. Obviously, the most impactful player that is missing will be Luka Doncic.

With Doncic out, they’ll be missing one of their leading scorers and distributors. Porzingus is out as well, which means they’ll be missing a player that averages 19.4 points.

With the Jazz essentially at full-strength, the Mavericks are going to be in trouble. They’ll have to find a way to take down Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, and Rudy Gobert.

Their focus should start with stopping Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz leading scorer. If the Mavericks can slow down Mitchell’s production, they’ll have a chance to win this one. It’s still a tough task to undertake.

Utah Jazz: The Jazz are at full strength, but can they cover?

The Utah Jazz comes into this game at a huge advantage over the Mavericks. However, this advantage also makes them heavy favorites in this one. Covering a 12.5-point spread is going to be tough for the Jazz.

They’ve lost games against the Wizards and Spurs recently, so they can’t underestimate the Mavericks. If they do, they could find themselves losing this one too.

Still, with all of the players out for the Mavericks, the Jazz will likely win this game. Since they won’t have to worry about Luka Doncic, the Jazz should do fine here. They have the No.1 scoring offense in the NBA, averaging 115.8 points per game.

However, the Jazz hasn’t been doing well against the spread this season. They’re currently 8-10 against the spread at home.

Our pick for the Dallas Mavericks at the Utah Jazz

Obviously, Utah is doing incredibly well this season. They’re third in the Western Conference and have won their last two games. The Mavericks are missing a ton of players, making the Jazz the clear-cut winner.

The real question is whether or not they’ll be able to cover the spread in this one.

This is where we see the Utah Jazz having trouble. The Mavericks might be dealing with a ton of injuries, but they’ve done great against the spread. Over their last six games, the Mavericks have gone 4-2 against the spread.

So, we’ll take the Mavericks +12.5 in this one.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Dallas Mavericks +12.5, UNDER

Keep up with your latest NBA news coverage and betting pick previews at The Dunkel Index.