Bucks vs. Mavericks Preview
DALLAS, TX (AP) – The Dallas Mavericks have won 12 straight while the Milwaukee Bucks have lost five consecutive on the road and seven in a row in Dallas.
The Mavericks hope all of those streaks continue Monday night when they look to match their longest win streak from last season.
Dallas (19-4) won 103-97 over Utah on Saturday to move within one of its 13-game run Feb. 17-March 10. The Mavericks don’t seem impressed by it as they close in on their 17-game franchise-record mark set Jan. 27-March 11, 2007.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Mavericks -8.5 point spread favorites for Monday’s game against the Bucks. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 87X% of more than 4,578 bets for this game have been placed on the Mavericks -8.5.
Trends show that Dallas is 2-2 ATS versus Milwaukee over the past three seasons.
“I don’t think the team really cares about the win streak,” coach Rick Carlisle told the Mavericks’ official website. “Our core guys that have been here a long time, they’ve been on streaks a lot longer than this. These guys won 17 in a row one year. That part of it isn’t a novelty to our team. We’re a veteran team and we’re trying to become a great team.”
Dirk Nowitzki has been great, averaging 25.0 points and shooting a career-high 56.8 percent. Nowitzki is shooting 69.9 percent in his last five games after making 10 of 12 shots for 31 points and 14 rebounds Saturday.
“He’s on a great run,” Carlisle said. “You’re not going to shoot 10 for 12 every night, but a guy of his skill level is capable of it.”
Milwaukee (9-13), which drafted and traded away Nowitzki in 1998, enters with 2-8 records on the road and against Western Conference foes. The Bucks also haven’t won in Dallas since a 110-107 victory Dec. 30, 2002.
A 3-1 homestand, though, has given Milwaukee confidence. The Bucks went 1-4 as Andrew Bogut missed five games with back spasms before the center returned to average 20.8 points and 16.0 rebounds in the last four games.
“I’m doing much more treatment than I was in preseason and it’s responding well,” he said. “So, getting some confidence in the past four games, four double-doubles, I’m going to just keep working.”
Bogut had 24 points and 22 rebounds in Saturday’s 97-91 victory over Houston. Brandon Jennings scored 19 and John Salmons made 7 of 12 shots for 17 points.
Salmons is averaging 12.8 points on 37.4 percent shooting. He averaged 19.9 and shot 46.7 percent in 30 games for the Bucks after being traded from Chicago last season to help Milwaukee make the playoffs.
“I think we’re starting to get used to winning some games. It was tough for us early,” Salmons said. “We definitely didn’t think we’d start the season off the way we did. But it is what it is. We’ve just got to try and get back on track and hopefully if we get on a roll, we can forget what happened in the beginning of the season.”
The Bucks are averaging a league-low 91.5 points. The Mavs are among the league’s best defensive teams, yielding 92.6 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot 43.2 percent.
Dallas won two close meetings last season, 115-113 on the road Nov. 16 on Nowitzki’s 18-footer at the buzzer and 108-107 on Jan. 26.
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