Sportsbook.ag Tuesday NBA Betting Preview

The Mavericks will be looking to get back on track when they face the Blazers in Portland on Tuesday.

DALLAS MAVERICKS (10-8) at PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (7-11)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Pick, Total: 201

Dallas has really struggled recently, losing four of its past five games after a great start to the season. The Mavericks were lousy in a 112-98 loss in Sacramento on Monday night, turning the ball over 16 times and getting outrebounded 59-50. The Blazers, meanwhile, lost 102-87 on the road against the Clippers on Tuesday. They held Los Angeles to just 38.8% shooting from the field, but were only able to shoot 37.9% from the field themselves. They’ll need to knock down shots at a more efficient clip against a Dallas team that can really fill it up.

Over the past three seasons, Portland is 2-1 both SU and ATS when hosting Dallas. Two of those three contests went Under the total, but four of the past seven games played between these teams overall in the past three seasons have gone Over the total.

One thing favoring the Mavericks in this game is that they are facing a Blazers team that is 8-22 ATS off a road loss over the past two seasons. Portland will not be the only team with a poor trend against it, though. The Mavericks are 0-8 ATS in road games after three or more consecutive Unders over the past two seasons.

As for injuries, PG J.J. Barea (Ankle) is out indefinitely for Dallas and PG Damian Lillard (Food Poisoning) is questionable for Portland after being unable to finish Tuesday night’s game against the Clippers.

The Mavericks were unable to come away with a victory in Sacramento on Tuesday, but PF Dirk Nowitzki (16.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG) only played 29 minutes and should be rested up for this meeting with Portland. Dallas will need their big man to find some success offensively, as he is shooting just 23.1% from behind the arc over the past five games and must improve on the 12.8 PPG he has put up in that span. If he can score around 20 points then Dallas will be in much better shape on Tuesday.

Another guy who will need to play well for this Mavericks team is PG Deron Williams (13.9 PPG, 5.6 APG). Williams has looked a lot better in Dallas than he did in his time with Brooklyn and comes into this game averaging 14.0 PPG and 5.8 APG over the past five contests. He will be counted on to hold his own against Damian Lillard on Tuesday. If Lillard doesn’t play then Williams will need to be aggressive as a scorer, as he should be able to take over the game if Portland is forced to play without its best player.

The health of PG Damian Lillard (24.3 PPG, 6.8 APG, 4.4 RPG, 1.1 SPG) is going to really affect the outcome of this game, but it’s likely that he’ll play if it truly was food poisoning that took him out of Tuesday’s game. Lillard had 29 points and seven assists two games ago and has been playing phenomenally for the Blazers this season. He has a big advantage over Deron Williams thanks to his blazing speed and should be able to have a big game if he’s feeling right.

Whether or not Lillard plays, SG C.J. McCollum (19.9 PPG, 3.4 APG, 3.4 RPG) must have a big game for Portland. McCollum took over as the point guard with Lillard out against the Clippers and dished out 10 assists, but he shot just 4-for-15 from the field and that must change. This Blazers team is counting on McCollum to hit shots and he will need to do it against Dallas on Tuesday or it’s very unlikely that Portland will come away with a win.