The Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks are amongst the highest scoring teams in the league today, and each will look to set up their own fireworks offensively on Friday when the Suns pay Dallas a visit for the first of four meetings this season. Can the Suns snap Dallas’ win streak, or will the Mavericks show Phoenix why they’re among the best in the West?
Also on Friday, college basketball will witness a highly anticipated matchup between two high-profile, undefeated programs in the Texas Longhorns and the Kentucky Wildcats. See what we have to say about this matchup here.
Behind the dynamic tandem of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, the Phoenix Suns were able to break out of their two-game slump last Tuesday by defeating the Indiana Pacers 116-99 at home. The high-scoring Suns will now head to Dallas, where they are 2-0 ATS in their last two games.
[sc:NBA240banner ]The absence of Isaiah Thomas (ankle) has reminded everyone again just how awesome the backcourt duo of Dragic and Bledsoe is, after the two guards combined for 61 points on 22-for-35 shooting from the field against the Pacers.
Dragic, whose minutes and scoring have been down this season (31.1 MPG, 15.5 PPG) compared to the last (35.1 MPG, 20.3 PPG), went off for a season-high 34 points against the Pacers. Dragic is averaging 34 MPG and 20.7 PPG over the last four games without Thomas. Expect him to log in heavy minutes again versus Dallas with Thomas’ return still unclear as of the moment.
Bledsoe, on the other hand, had 27 points and seven assists in the Pacers game. Together with Dragic, Bledsoe is poised to deal some serious damage on Dallas, which has a couple of defensive holes both guards can exploit.
The Suns are coming into the game against Dallas as the league’s best team on the open court based from their NBA-leading 18.2 fast break points per game. On the flipside, the Mavericks don’t have a good transition defense (15.3 FB points per game by opponents), meaning the Suns will make full use of their speedy, guard-heavy lineup. The Mavericks are also not good in defending three-point shots, as their opponents average 10.2 three points made and 26.0 three points attempted per game.
The Suns are knocking down 9.5 treys per game thus far this season. They were 12-for-25 (48%) from beyond the arc against Indiana.
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Betting on the Dallas Mavericks
Powered by Tyson Chandler’s monstrous double-double performance of 18 points and 20 rebounds, the Mavericks were able to overcome the absence of Dirk Nowitzki, who opted to sit and rest his ailing back, and win against the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday, 107-105.
Dallas came into the Bucks game with a 4-1 record in their previous five outings, in which they averaged 111.4 PPG. Despite their high-scoring ways, though, the Mavs weren’t able to win by large margins mainly because of their defense that surrendered 109.4 PPG during that five-game stretch. This season, the Mavericks have allowed their opponents to score 101.8 PPG.
Monta Ellis paces the team’s offense with 20.7 PPG. Apart from Ellis, three other Mavs average in double figures in scoring, namely Nowitzki (19.6 PPG), Chandler Parsons (14.9 PPG) and Chandler (11.3 PPG).
Dallas can’t rely too much on their offensive prowess especially against a team like Phoenix, one that also carries a potent offense that averages 105.1 PPG. The Suns have players that are adept in scoring either by pulling up (19.9 PPG on pull ups, fourth in the NBA) or by catch-and-shoot opportunities (27.2 PPG, No. 8) so it’s going to be important for the Mavs to be extra quick getting to the Suns shooters.
As mentioned above, Phoenix likes to run and score. If the Mavericks can do a good job of keeping the Suns off the boards, then they’ll effectively take away Phoenix’s stout fast break game. With Nowitzki (5.4 RPG) expected to return to the lineup against Phoenix, he’ll be a big help to Chandler, who is the team’s leading rebounder with 11.9 RPG.
The over is 7-3 in the Mavericks’ last 10 home games.
