Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets 2011 NBA Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Forward Dirk Nowitzki will lead the red hot Dallas Mavericks on the road to the Pepsi Center to take on Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night at 10:30 PM ET on TNT Sports. The Nuggets enter the game on a 2 game losing skid at 30-23 good for 3rd in the Northwest while the Mavericks have won 10 in a row and come in at 37-15 2nd in the Southwest. Both teams are coming off of close games but the Mavs found a way to win on Wednesday night with the help of Jose Juan Barea. “They kept giving me the ball and it kept working out,” said Barea, who matched a career high with 15 fourth-quarter points, scoring 20 total. “I love it. I love having the ball in my hands and making things happen.”
The Nuggets had a chance to tie with 8 seconds left just down 2 but couldn’t make it happen. “If we did call timeout, we had a chance to set something up,” said Anthony, who is averaging 32.0 points on 53.4 percent shooting in his last six games. “We still had a chance to take a shot that we might have felt good with. To have seven or nine seconds left in the game, I feel pretty confident at that time with the ball in my hands to make something happen.” The odds makers at BetUS have the Denver Nuggets a -3 point favorite at home against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks winning streak continued Wednesday night 102-100 on the road at the Sacramento Kings to move to a respectable 26-24-2 ATS for the season. Point guard Jason Kidd led the Mavs with 14 points 8 rebounds and 5 assists while Dirk was held to just 10 points and 6 boards. Jason Terry and Barea came off the bench for 22 and 20 points respectively. Vegas odds makers have the Dallas Mavericks +1200 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Nuggets lost 116-114 on the road Wednesday to the Golden State Warriors to move to 22-28-3 ATS for the season and are looking to avert their 3rd straight home loss. Anthony led the Nuggets with 29 points 4 boards and 2 assists while Nene Hilario added 17 points 6 boards and 4 assists. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Dallas and Denver is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Dallas. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 210 points combined of the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets.
I predict a Dallas victory on the road!