Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, 12/25/2020 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Lakers

Date: Friday, December 25, 2020

Location: STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA

TV: ABC

Odds/Point Spread: Dallas (+7)

The Los Angeles Lakers (0-1) play the Dallas Mavericks (0-1) at STAPLES Center on Friday. The spread on this matchup has Los Angeles as 7-point favorites. The O/U opens at 230.

The Dallas Mavericks played the Phoenix Suns and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 106-102 in their last game. Dallas walked away from the contest having earned a 42.4% FG percentage (36 of 85) and knocked down 9 out of their 37 shots from downtown. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Mavericks knocked down 21 of their 26 shots for a percentage of 80.8%. Concerning pulling down rebounds, they compiled 39 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 17 assists for this contest while getting 6 steals and 2 rejections. With regard to the defense, Dallas allowed 48.1% from the field on 38 out of 79 shooting. Phoenix doled out 21 dimes and had 7 steals in this matchup. Additionally, the Suns pulled down 48 rebounds (6 offensive, 42 defensive) and earned 7 blocks. Phoenix went 70.4% at the charity stripe by burying 19 of 27 tries. They also converted 11 of their 30 shots from long range.

Dorian Finney-Smith is one guy who had an impact in this game. He accumulated 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting. He played for 35:48 minutes played and also collected 8 rebounds. Finney-Smith finished the contest at 36.4% from the field and totaled 3 assists. One more player that came through in this matchup for the Mavericks was Luka Dončić. He grabbed 8 boards and totaled 5 assists. He finished the game at 42.3% from the field for this game by shooting 11-of-26 (32 points). At the conclusion of this game, Dončić played 35:57 minutes.

The Mavericks connected on 36.7% on shots beyond the perimeter (1,136 of 3,095) and 77.9% from the charity stripe last season. They had an average of 117.0 pts per game (3rd in the league) while hitting 46.1% from the field. They lost possession via turnover 12.7 times per game and as a group committed 19.5 fouls per contest. As a unit, Dallas pulled in 46.9 boards per game and earned 1,849 dimes over the course of last year, which was 9th in the NBA in terms of passing. When they were on defense, the Mavericks forced their opponents into 11.9 turnovers every game while drawing 21.3 fouls. The Mavericks gave up an opponent FG percentage of 45.8% (3,143 of 6,868) and they conceded 45.4 boards per game as a team. They were ranked 22nd in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,794 conceded last season. They conceded 35.1% on shots from beyond the arc while they were 16th in the league in points per game allowed (112.1).

The last time they took the court, the Los Angeles Lakers went home defeated by a final of 116-109 against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers recorded 37 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards for a total of 45 for this contest. They also stuffed 2 attempts while getting 4 steals in this game. The Clippers had 29 personal fouls in the game which took the Lakers to the free throw line for a total of 31 tries. They were able to bury 24 of those for a percentage of 77.4%. In regard to shooting from downtown, Los Angeles converted 9 of their 29 tries (31.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Lakers went 38 out of 81 from the floor which had them shooting 46.9%. The Lakers permitted the Clippers to knock down 44 of their 93 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 47.3% in this matchup. They finished 35.0% from distance by shooting 14 out of 40 and walked away from this one shooting 14 out of 19 from the charity stripe (73.7%). When discussing how they attacked the glass, Los Angeles permitted Los Angeles to snag 40 in total (11 on the offensive glass).

Anthony Davis ended up being important for the Lakers for this game. He converted 8 out of 15 in this matchup for a field goal rate of 53.3%, which got him 18 points. Davis collected 7 boards in his 30:53 mins of time on the hardwood and accumulated 2 dimes for the game. One more player that played a role for Los Angeles was LeBron James. He ended up with 22 points in 28:21 minutes on the court by way of 7 of 17 shooting in the matchup. James finished going 41.2% from the floor in addition to earning 5 assists and 5 boards.

Los Angeles totaled 8,054 pts over the course of last season (113.4 per contest) and they averaged 45.7 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Lakers shot 48.0% from the field, which was ranked 1st in the league. The Lakers were responsible for committing 20.7 fouls per game and they shot 72.9% from the charity stripe. They assisted teammates 25.4 times per game (10th in the NBA) and they lost possession by turning the ball over 15.2 times per contest. The Lakers on defense were ranked 4th in basketball in points per game surrendered with 107.6. They relinquished 23.4 assists and 42.3 boards every game, which ranked them 7th and 2nd in those defensive categories. The Los Angeles defense conceded 34.9% on 3-pointers (827 of 2,373) and their opponents knocked down 78.1% of their foul shots. They were able to force 15.9 TO's every game and let teams shoot 44.8% from the field (8th in the NBA).

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Los Angeles (-7) and over 230 points

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