Portland Trail Blazers vs Dallas Mavericks Prediction, 12/16/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs Dallas Mavericks

Date: Friday, December 16, 2022

Location: American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX

TV: Bally Sports Southwest

The Portland Trail Blazers are on their way to American Airlines Center on Friday where they will go up against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Trail Blazers stepped onto the hardwood against the Spurs and took home the win by a score of 128-112 in their last game. When discussing fouls, the Trail Blazers ended up with 20 and the Spurs totaled 16 fouls. They converted 11 out of their 29 shots from 3-point range. San Antonio ended up going 57.9% at the free throw line by burying 11 of 19 tries. On top of that, San Antonio had 40 rebounds (14 offensive, 26 defensive) and had 3 blocks. San Antonio totaled 23 assists and had 9 steals in the game. With respect to the defense, Portland allowed 46.4% from the field on 45 of 97 shooting. They also dished out 26 assists in this contest in addition to creating 11 turnovers and getting 5 steals. In regard to getting rebounds, they earned 40 with 5 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Trail Blazers knocked down 12 of 17 shots for a percentage of 70.6%. Portland wrapped up the game having earned a 60.5% field goal percentage (49 out of 81) and converted 18 out of their 40 3-point attempts.

Damian Lillard is a player who played a role for the matchup. He scored 37 points on 14 of 23 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 36 minutes played and grabbed 5 rebounds. Lillard finished the game shooting 60.9% from the field and distributed 8 assists.

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Portland enters this one with a record of 16-12 on the season. They lose possession via turnover 15.4 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 19.9 personal fouls per game. As a unit, Portland is snagging 43.4 rebounds per game and has racked up 678 assists this season, which is 20th in the league in terms of passing. The Trail Blazers are shooting 39.0% on shots from distance (358 of 917) and 77.6% from the free throw line. They have an average of 112.6 points per game (17th in the NBA) while hitting 47.8% from the floor.

Defensively, the Trail Blazers have forced 13.7 turnovers per contest while drawing 21.7 fouls. They surrender 36.2% on shots from distance and they are 11th in the league in opponents PPG (111.6). The Trail Blazers defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 47.4% (1,160 of 2,449) and they surrender 41.4 rebounds per contest as a unit. They currently rank 22nd in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 729 conceded this year.

In their last game, the Mavericks took a loss by a score of 105-90 when they played the Cavaliers. In relation to how they cleaned up the glass, Dallas allowed Cleveland to collect 43 in total (5 on the offensive side). They finished 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by connecting on 8 out of 24 and ended up shooting 15 of 19 from the charity stripe (78.9%). The Mavericks allowed the Cavaliers to make 41 of 78 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 52.6% for the matchup. At the conclusion of this game, the Mavericks finished the game shooting 29 out of 74 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 39.2%. In regard to 3-pointers, Dallas knocked down 13 of their 38 tries (34.2%). They were able to knock down 19 of the free throw tries for a rate of 73.1%. The Cavaliers had 20 fouls in this game which got the Mavericks to the free throw line for 26 tries. They also coughed it up 12 times, while getting 2 steals in this contest. The Mavericks pulled down 27 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards for a total of 33 in this matchup.

Luka Doncic ended up being important for the Mavericks in this contest. He knocked down 9 out of 23 in the game for a field goal percentage of 39.1%, and had 5 rebounds. Doncic recorded 30 points in his 39 mins of playing time and had 6 dimes for this game.

Dallas has a record of 14-14 so far this season. The Mavericks have committed 20.9 fouls every game while shooting 72.7% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 21.9 times per contest (28th in the league) and they turn it over 12.8 times per game. Dallas has 3,111 pts on the season (111.1 per game) and they collect 38.6 rebounds per contest. As an offensive unit, the Mavericks are connecting on 46.6% from the field, which is ranked 18th in basketball.

The Dallas defense surrenders 37.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter (314 of 849) and their opponents are converting on 78.6% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 24.1 dimes and 43.0 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 10th and 10th in the league. The Mavericks defensively are ranked 6th in the league in points per game surrendered with 109.9. They are forcing 15.2 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 48.5% from the floor (28th in the NBA).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Portland

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