NBA Lines, Game Preview & Expert Analysis for a potential Final between Mavericks vs Cavaliers

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It’s a potential if not likely NBA Finals preview on Tuesday night as the Dallas Mavericks visit the Cleveland Cavaliers – a homecoming of sorts for the Mavs’ Kyrie Irving, who won his only NBA title while with LeBron James in Cleveland.

2024 NBA Expert Analysis Dallas vs Cleveland | MyBookie Sportsbook NBA Week 18

How to Bet Mavericks at Cavaliers NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Cavs -4.5 (total 232.5)

Mavericks vs Cavaliers First Meeting

On Dec. 27, the Cavs won 113-110 in Dallas. Caris LeVert scored 29 points, hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland rallied from 20 points down in the first half. The Mavericks went five minutes without scoring in the fourth quarter as a nine-point lead turned into a 111-105 deficit with 1:13 remaining. Jarrett Allen had 24 points and 23 rebounds, one off his career high, and Isaac Okoro scored 22 points. Cleveland was without three starters in Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. Luka Doncic scored 39 points for Dallas but Kyrie Irving was out. The Mavericks are 40-44 (.476) all-time against the Cavaliers franchise (22-20 at home, 18-24 on the road).

Why Bet on Dallas Mavericks?

The Mavericks had a seven-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a 133-111 loss in Indiana. Dallas shot 47% from the field but allowed Indiana to shoot 56% and make 14 3-pointers. The Mavs got better when Kyrie Irving opened the fourth quarter by going on a personal 9-0 run to get Dallas within 104-100 of Indiana. But the charged-up Pacers proceeded to negotiate a 20-4 run and put the game out of reach at 124-104 with 4:14 remaining.

“Give them credit,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “They were making shots. We’ll learn from it. We had 15 assists, the lowest of the season. They’re good. With their pace and being able to drive it and put it on the floor, you have four guys out there who can definitely drive it and cause a problem. This will be something that we look at. We don’t face this a lot of times, so this is a good test for our defense, and we can be better. Tonight, our offense didn’t capitalize on a lot of opportunities.”

Luka Doncic led the Mavs with 33 points, six rebounds, six assists and two blocks, and Irving contributed 29 points and six boards. With four 3-pointers, Doncic has recorded his 49th consecutive game with a made 3-pointer, the longest single-season streak in his career (48-game streak, 1/22/21-5/7/21). It was Dallas’ first loss since Irving returned on Feb. 5 after missing six games due to a sprained right thumb.

“We always try to learn something in wins and losses,” Irving said. “But when we have road games like this where we don’t play as well as we would like, or we don’t have the energy particularly required to withstand a few runs from away teams (it’s not good).”

Irving spent six seasons with the Cavaliers and averaged 21.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 34.2 minutes in 381 games (all starts) with the franchise. Irving appeared in three-straight NBA Finals (2015-17) and won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.

Doncic leads the NBA in scoring (34.3 ppg), is second in three-pointers made per game (3.9), third in assists (9.6), seventh in steals (1.5) and also is shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from behind the three-point line. Doncic is averaging 29.1 points (.492 FG%, .408 3FG%, .817 FT%), 8.4 rebounds and 8.4 assists in nine career games against the Cavaliers (the Mavericks have gone 6-3 in those games).

Josh Green is probable for Tuesday’s game due to a right elbow injury. Green “dinged his elbow” during Sunday’s loss to Indiana, but it appears the issue is minor. He finished that contest with 14 points (6-8 FG), five rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes and continues to be a solid starter. Over the last eight games, Green has averaged 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 28.5 minutes per game.

Guard Dante Exum is doubtful for Tuesday but did practice Monday so he could return from his knee injury as soon as Wednesday vs. Toronto.

Why Bet on Cleveland Cavaliers?

Cleveland comes off a 114-105 win at Washington on Sunday to snap a two-game losing streak. After Jordan Poole scored 11 points — and hit three 3-pointers — during a 14-0 run that gave the Wizards a 94-88 lead, the Cavs responded with their decisive run. Darius Garland made two 3s to pull the game even, Donovan Mitchell hit a 3 from LeVert’s feed to put Cleveland in front for good, and by the time Evan Mobley hit a putback and Garland followed with a layup, Cleveland had built a 110-98 advantage.

“I thought we defended well when we needed to,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We just need to be better. I don’t think we played to our standard tonight. I expected more fire from our group after losing two games in a row and having the opportunity to play another one.”

Mitchell hadn’t played since Feb. 14 and looked a bit rusty with only 16 points. He is averaging career-highs this season in rebounds (5.4 RPG) assists (6.2 APG), steals (1.89 SPG) and blocked shots (0.51 BPG). Mitchell is 1 of only 3 NBA players this season averaging 28.0+ PPG, 5.0+ RPG, 6.0+ APG and 1.5+ SPG (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic).

Jarrett Allen finished with a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. It was Allen’s seventh double-double across 11 February appearances, and the big man is averaging 18.3 points with 10.6 boards per contest in that stretch. Allen’s 14 double-doubles since Dec. 23 are third-most in the NBA.

Fellow big Evan Mobley had 21 points, six rebounds and five blocks. It was Mobley’s second game of the season with at least five blocks, as he had a career-high seven blocks against the Hawks on Nov. 28. He’s on pace to end February on a high note, averaging 16.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocks over his last 10 games.

Cleveland is 24-7 (.774) in their last 31 games since Dec. 16, which is the 2nd-best winning percentage in the NBA over that span. Cleveland has also won 14 of their last 18 home games since Dec. 6th, T-3rd best home winning percentage in the NBA over that span. The Cavs have won 6 straight games over Western Conference opponents since Dec. 27 as well as 8 of their last 9 matchups with the West.

The Cavs are averaging a franchise best 114.4 PPG this season and holding opponents to 109.2 PPG (2nd-best opponent points per game average in the NBA this season). They are also averaging 13.2 3PM per game this season which is a franchise best.

Mavericks vs Cavaliers Expert Prediction

Cavs 116, Mavericks 113

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