Dallas Mavericks (15-15) vs Milwaukee Bucks (20-13)
Game Info: Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 8:30 pm (American Airlines Center)
Betting Odds: Dallas Mavericks +4.5 -- Over/Under: Click Here for the Latest Odds
The Milwaukee Bucks invade the American Airlines Center to do battle with the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
The Milwaukee Bucks have been in decent shape as they’ve won four of their past seven games and they will be looking to stay hot after blowing past the Rockets in a 126-106 home win on Wednesday. Jrue Holiday led the team with 24 points and 10 assists on 10 of 17 shooting, Khris Middleton added 23 points with six assists while Jordan Nwora and DeMarcus Cousins each scored 18 points. As a team, the Bucks shot 43 percent from the field and 17 of 46 from the 3-point line as they exploded for 38 points in the second quarter to take a 13-point lead into halftime, before making another run in the third quarter to push the lead out to 23 points.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks have been in decent shape as they’ve won four of their past seven games and they will be looking to stay hot after routing the Timberwolves in a 114-102 home win on Tuesday. Jalen Brunson led the team with 28 points and six assists of 10 of 18 shooting, Dorian Finney-Smith added 19 points with six rebounds and five assists while Dwight Powell chipped in with 15 points. As a team, the Mavericks shot 48 percent from the field and 11 of 34 from the 3-point line as they squandered an early 17-point lead, before using a pivotal 12-1 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and escape with the victory.
Looking at the betting trends, the Bucks are 1-5 ATS in their last six road games, 0-4 ATS in their last four games playing on zero days’ rest and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games overall. The Mavericks are 6-13 ATS in their last 19 home games, 6-15 ATS in their last 21 games following a win and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the Bucks are 1-7 ATS in the last eight meetings in Dallas and the Bucks are 2-13-2 ATS in the last 17 meetings overall.
The Mavericks will again be without Luka Doncic and Trey Burke while Kristaps Porzingis is questionable for this one. The Bucks are coming into this one with plenty of momentum after making light work of the struggling Rockets on Wednesday and there’s certainly more stability with players like Holiday and Middleton leading the way. The betting trends don’t favor the Bucks, but the Mavericks are just so banged up right now, so the Bucks should be good enough to get the win and cover in this spot.