Dallas Mavericks vs Denver Nuggets Prediction, 1/7/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Dallas Mavericks vs Denver Nuggets

Date: Thursday, January 7, 2021

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: TNT

Odds/Point Spread: Dallas (+3.5)

Ball Arena is the site where and the Denver Nuggets (3-4) will take on the Dallas Mavericks (3-4) on Thursday. Dallas opens this contest as 3.5-point underdogs. The over/under has been set at 226.

The Dallas Mavericks took the court against the Houston Rockets and walked away with a win by a score of 113-100 in their last game. Dallas finished with a 47.6% field goal percentage (39 out of 82) and buried 16 of 39 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the free throw line, the Mavericks converted 19 of 20 attempts for a rate of 95.0%. With regard to rebounding, they compiled 51 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 24 assists in this contest as well as having 4 steals and 3 blocked shots. With respect to defending, Dallas allowed 39.0% from the field on 30 out of 77 shooting. Houston earned 17 dimes and had 5 steals for the game. Additionally, the Rockets totaled 35 rebounds (7 offensive, 28 defensive) and had 4 blocked shots. Houston finished the game shooting 80.6% at the free throw line by burying 29 of 36 attempts. They also made 11 out of their 40 attempts from beyond the perimeter.

Luka Dončić is someone who was a major factor for the game. He left the arena with 33 points on 12 out of 25 shooting. He played for 37:56 minutes played and also totaled 16 boards. Dončić finished the contest at 48.0% from the field and totaled 11 assists. An additional guy that was a major factor in the game for the Mavericks was Tim Hardaway. He pulled down 7 rebounds and accounted for 2 dimes. He finished shooting 78.6% from the field for the matchup by shooting 11-of-14 (30 points). When the game finished, Hardaway was on the court for 31:16 min.

Dallas comes into this contest with a record of 3-4 for the year. They lose possession via turnover 13.3 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 22.6 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Dallas is pulling in 42.9 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 151 dimes this year, which ranks 27th in the league in terms of passing. The Mavericks are connecting on 32.2% on 3-pointers (87 of 270) and 76.4% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 107.7 points per game (21st in the league) while shooting 44.7% from the field. On the defensive end, the Mavericks are able to force 16.9 turnovers every game while drawing 23.3 fouls. They surrender 32.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 7th in basketball in PPG allowed (105.1). The Mavericks defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 44.9% (118 of 163) and they relinquish 44.4 boards per game as a unit. They currently rank 4th in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 150 surrendered this season.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Denver Nuggets got the win with a final of 123-116 when they faced the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Nuggets were able to corral 32 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards totaling 42 for this game. They also turned away 2 attempts while recording 9 steals for this game. The Timberwolves were called for 31 fouls for the contest which took the Nuggets to the free throw line for a total of 45 shots. They were able to convert 33 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 73.3%. Pertaining to three-point shots, Denver made 8 out of 25 attempts (32.0%). When the final whistle was blown, the Nuggets shot 41 for 79 from the field which gave them a percentage of 51.9%. The Nuggets allowed the Timberwolves to make 42 of 91 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 46.2% in the game. They finished the game shooting 32.4% from distance by hitting 11 out of 34 and finished the contest at 21 out of 27 from the charity stripe (77.8%). When talking about rebounding, Denver permitted Minnesota to collect 42 in total (10 offensive).

Nikola Jokić ended up being important for the Nuggets for this contest. He made 12 out of 20 for the contest giving him a rate of 60.0%, which gave him 35 points. Jokić totaled 15 rebounds in his 36:34 mins of time on the court and had 6 assists for this contest. An additional guy that was important for Denver was Will Barton. He finished with 20 points in 35:53 minutes on the hardwood via 7 out of 14 shooting in the game. Barton ended the game having shot 50.0% from the floor while totaling 3 dimes and 7 rebounds.

Denver has a record of 3-4 on the season. The Nuggets have committed 20.6 fouls per contest and they connect on 73.0% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 27.9 times per game (3rd in the NBA) and they cough up possession 15.3 times per contest. Denver has totaled 819 pts for the campaign (117.0 per contest) and they collect 41.7 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Nuggets are hitting on 49.5% from the floor, which ranks them 2nd in the NBA. The Nuggets defensively are ranked 23rd in basketball in PPG given up with 116.0. They have relinquished 27.9 assists and 40.3 rebounds per game, ranking them 27th and 3rd in the NBA. The Denver defense gives up 39.4% on 3-point attempts (95 of 241) and their opponents are converting on 78.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are forcing their opponents into 15.4 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 48.4% from the field (27th in the NBA).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Dallas (+3.5)

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