Mavericks vs Lakers Pick, Preview & Betting Odds For Friday, March 17th

Check out our free Mavericks vs Lakers pick and preview for this NBA game in Los Angeles. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this NBA matchup.

Mavericks vs Lakers NBA Pick & Preview

Sport: NBA
Teams: Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers
Where: Los Angeles at Crypto.com Arena
Date: Friday, March 17th
Betting Odds LAL -5, DAL +173 | LAL -211 O/U OFF

The Mavericks come into today’s matchup with an overall record of 35-35. So far, the team has gone 26-42-2 against the spread. In the teams past 3 games, their overall mark sits at 1-2. Dallas is 2-1 vs the spread in these matchups.

In their previous game, the Mavericks took down the Spurs by a score of 137-128. Not only did they come away with a straight up win, but they also covered the spread as 4 point favorites. Dallas needed a strong 4th quarter effort in this game, as Spurs held a 6 point lead heading into the 4th. Leading the team in scoring was Christian Wood, as he contributed 28 points while hitting 47.1% of his shots.

The Lakers come into today’s matchup with an overall record of 34-36. So far, the team has gone 34-33-3 against the spread. Against the spread, Los Angeles has a mark of 1-2. Straight up, their record is 1-2 in these games.

In their previous game, the Lakers were favored to win vs the Rockets. However, their 114-110 loss gave them both a straight up and ATS defeat. In the loss, Los Angeles got off to a slow start, trailing by 14 points going into halftime. Leading the team in scoring was Austin Reaves, as he contributed 24 points while hitting 42.9% of his shots.

Head To Head Recap & Stats

In the most recent matchup between the two teams, the Mavericks picked up the 124-115 win over the Lakers. The Mavericks point margin of victory was enough to cover the spread as 7.5 point favorite. So far this season, the Mavericks have a record of 2-1 vs the Lakers. In last year’s head-to-head meetings, the Mavericks averaged 113.67 points per game vs Los Angeles, which was an increase over their season-long average. While the Mavericks saw a boost in scoring, the Lakers averaged 107.0 points per contest in head-to-head meeting vs Dallas. This figure was similar to season-long average. Over the last 5 head to head meetings, the Mavericks have averaged 117 points per game compared to 111 for Los Angeles. This has led to an ATS record of 4-1 for Dallas. In these matchups, the teams have put together an over-under mark of 2-3. Combined, they averaged 228 points in these games.

Odds & Free Betting Analysis For This NBA Game

Through 70 games, Dallas is averaging 113.9 points per game (16th). One area that the Dallas offense is finding success, is their ability to get to the free-throw line. So far, the team is averaging 19.5 made free-throws per contest. Dallas is a strong candidate to see their overall offensive numbers improve, as not only are they a good outside shooting unit, but they do a good job taking care of the ball, ranking 2nd in fewest turnovers per game.

On the defensive end of the floor, the Mavericks are giving up an average of 104.72 points per game, good for 2nd in the NBA.

Before getting in a bet on today’s game, be sure to check the injury reports as Luka Doncic has already been ruled out for the Mavericks. However, the key name to watch is Kyrie Irving, as he is currently questionable. If he is unable to play, Dallas will be without its top two scorers, as Doncic is averaging 33.0 points per contest and Irving at 27.2. If Kyrie Irving can give it a go, he will matched up against a Los Angeles defense ranked 25th in fewest points allowed to point-guards.

Los Angeles will look to continue with their strong offensive play, as they are averaging 116.6 points per game (8th). Coming into today’s game, the Lakers will be looking to improve their 3-point shooting numbers, as they are averaging just 10.7 made 3’s per game. If the Los Angeles offense is going to turn things around, not only do they need to improve their outside shooting but they must do a better job protecting the ball. Currently, they are averaging 13.6 turnovers per game.

Defensively, Los Angeles has had its problems giving up an average of 115.15 points per game (28th).

Los Angeles will be counting Anthony Davis to put together a strong scoring performance vs the Dallas, as LeBron James has been ruled out for today’s game. So far, James leads the team in scoring at 29.5 points per game. Davis is 2nd on the team at 26.1 points per contest, which sits 16.0th in the NBA. In his 44 games, he has hit 56.1% of his field goal attempts, and is grabbing 12.6 rebounds per game.