L.A. Lakers at Dallas Mavericks Betting Preview

Opening Line: Lakers +6 / Mavericks -6 O/U 195.5

Time: 8:30 PM EST Tuesday January 13, 2010

Tonight in their second straight game in the Lone Star State the L.A. Lakers take on the Dallas Mavericks in the Big D. The Lakers have lost 4 road games for this first time in nearly 3 years and they have lost 3 of their last 4 averaging 92.3 ppg on 41.4% in that span. Not only that, but the Lakers will be without Pau Gasol for the 6th straight game and Kobe Bryant is nursing a sore back, which kept him out of the end of last night's 20 point loss to San Antonio.

Both of these teams are coming off a loss and are each 6-4 in their last 10 games. The Lakers still lead the Pacific Division with a 5 game cushion over the Phoenix Suns while the Mavericks lead the Southwest Division over the San Antonio Spurs by only 1.5 games.

This season the Mavs are 12-6 at home and 18-19 ATS and the Lakers are 8-6 on the road and 16-21 ATS.

In their last game the Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs 105-85 last night and the Mavs lost to the Utah Jazz 111-93 on Saturday.

Kobe is banged up with a sore back and a broken finger and he could really use some help on offense, as Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom really need to help tonight in the scoring department.

Much like the Lakers the Mavs are hurting as well, as Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, and Erick Dampier are all questionable for tonight's game. Since Dampier may not play Bynum may have a big game scoring and on the boards.

Dirk Nowitzki (25 ppg 8 rpg) has been solid this year for Dallas, but he has struggled against the Lakers in his last 7 games against L.A. only averaging 19.2 ppg and shooting 35.7% from the field. He should get some open looks tonight, as Gasol is Out for tonight's game.

The Lakers' backcourt has to contain the Dallas' PG's as they cannot let Jason Kidd (8.6 ppg 8.8 assists per game) penetrate and dish out or allow super 6th man Jason Terry (16.6 ppg) score.

The Lakers need to get back to playing solid defense, as they have allowed at least 100 points in 8 of 11 games after doing so just 8 times in their first 26 games.

L.A. is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games, 3-9 ATS in their last 12 against teams in the Western Conference, and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against teams with a winning percentage above .600. Dallas is 1-12 ATS in their last 13 home games, 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games playing on 3 or more days rest, and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against teams in the Pacific Division.

Our Selection : Some bettors would consider the Lakers a must bet expecting them to put in a strong effort tonight after being embarrassed 105-85 last night in San Antonio. However, it wasn't the Lakers intensity that was lacking it was more due to injuries. The Mavericks on the other hand were destroyed by the Lakers losing by 35 points as visitors. They catch a wounded tired team playing back to back and 3rd in four nights. Take Dallas -6


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Dallas Mavericks at Miami Heat Odds 6-12
The Mavs are up 3-2 in this series heading to South Beach and for the Heat to force Game 7 they will have to play better in the 4th quarter, especially LeBron James. 5Dimes has the hometown Heat as 5-point favorites in Game 6 with a total of 187.

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