Mavs vs. Hawks Preview
The Dallas Mavericks look for their sixth win in a row when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. Here’s the latest from BroburySports.com.
Atlanta is a three-point home favorite at Brobury. ESPN will begin its doubleheader at 7 pm ET, with Orlando (-5) at New Orleans following.
Dallas (37-21, 24-34 ATS) looks like it pulled off the heist of the century at the trading deadline. Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood came aboard from Washington in exchange for Josh Howard.
Butler has stepped in nicely at the swingman position. He didn’t play last game versus Los Angeles due to an allergic reaction, but the team still won 101-96 as 1 ½-point favorites. Butler is probable for tonight’s game.
Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points for Dallas and Jason Terry added 30 off the bench. Kobe Bryant shot just 9-of-23 from the field, but this a game that Dallas likely would have lost before the trade.
The Mavs are 5-0 straight-up and 3-2 ATS in the last five games. That includes a great win at Orlando back on Feb. 19. Dallas is 17-13 ATS on the road this year as opposed to a woeful 7-21 ATS at home.
Haywood is starting at center with Erick Dampier sidelined with a finger injury. He’s averaging 12 PPG and 11.6 RPG in the last five games. To add injury to insult, Howard is out for the year with a torn ACL, which means this trade is nothing but a salary dump for Washington.
Hawks happy to be home
Atlanta (36-20 SU, 34-22 ATS) is one of four elite teams in the East Conference along Cleveland, Boston and Orlando.
The Hawks started the post-break session with a four-game trip out West. They went 2-2 SU and ATS, although they did finish with a win at Utah (a very tough place to play).
Atlanta has one of the NBA’s best ATS home marks (18-10). They’re also adept on the road (16-12 ATS). This is a very solid team overall with five players scoring in double digits. The only thing they really lack is a true superstar who can will them into the NBA Finals.
These teams have met once this year with Atlanta winning 80-75 as 5 ½-point road ‘dogs.
Will the Mavs keep up their hot streak?
Bet on it at BroburySports.com!
Posted: 2/26/10 12:22PM ET