Golden State at Dallas
Time: 6 PM CT, NBA LP
Spread: GSW -6.5
Total: 227
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Golden State Warriors have won its last three games and improved to 11-8 on the road where it will face the Dallas Mavericks at 6 PM (CT) Sunday on NBA League Pass. The Warriors are 6.5-point favorites at Dallas, where the Mavericks have posted a 16-4 mark in the 2018-19 season. The over/under is set at 227 points according to NBA Oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes.
DAL
While Dallas has gone 16-4 at home this season, it is just 4-18 on the road. There is no team with a greater home-road split. The Mavericks have been better than expected, but it still lingers two games below .500, riding the immense talents of No. 5 overall pick, rookie Luka Doncic. Doncic has only gotten better as this season has progressed, and he has shown few signs of approaching any “rookie wall.” Now averaging better than 20 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game, the rookie leads the Mavericks in scoring and has the best PER of any player to play significant minutes.
With Doncic’s arrival, however, Dennis Smith Jr. has largely stagnated from his rookie campaign a year ago. The point guard is averaging 12.6 points and 3.9 assists per game, but he eventually could be dealt to further clear the backcourt responsibilities to the point-forward Doncic.
Dirk Nowitzki still has yet to play meaningful minutes this season, in what will probably be his farewell tour. Dirk has returned for 12 games but averaged just 10 minutes per appearance while averaging under four points per game. The torch is being firmly handed off to Doncic, and perhaps whatever pieces the team can get around Luka complement him better than DSJ and Harrison Barnes have thus far.
The Mavericks are all-in on their talented rookie and will certainly seek to build around him, but it is only now that the Mavs are realizing it got the heist of the 2018 draft class. Doncic should be a perennial All-Star, and while his upside as a “first ballot HOFer” type still looms, one thing is certain and that is that the Mavericks rebuild got a lot closer when it drafted the sensational Euro prospect.
GSW
Though Golden State has won its past three, the Warriors are not where it hoped it would be as this season has reached its midway point. With 28 wins, the Warriors are still on pace for a 50-win season, but this is a team just two seasons removed from the most winning season in NBA history. Where it has gone wrong is difficult to pinpoint, but chemistry issues, particularly those between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, seem at least partly to blame.
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Injuries to Stephen Curry have also played their role in the Warriors. Whatever the reasons, the demise is mostly over-stated because this is a team still sitting No. 2 in the West on the verge of adding a perennial Allstar to its starting lineup. Whatever form Cousins may or may not be in, this is still a team with immense talent, and Cousins will not have to work hard to get his shots. After all, the Warriors will then be starting five All-Stars, even with whatever existing chemistry issues may or may not even exist.
Curry and Durant have still been outstanding this season, even if Green has maligned Durant for his attitude on multitudes of occasions. Curry is tallying 28.9 points per game and Durant is just b behind him at 28.4. Klay Thompson still has been cooking with his 21.6 points per game. Perhaps the biggest finger could be pointed at Green himself, whose defensive efforts have fallen off as his facilitation on offense has become just as dicey. Green averages under eight points per game and is good for “only” 6.8 assists per night.
His role as point-forward appears to be changing, as does this Warriors team, but it is unclear how deep those effects may run, as it is equally unclear whether Durant will re-sign with the team or head elsewhere due to the friction that has already been a problem. And therein lies the rub with dynasties: The only thing that can often derail them is internal issues, but yes, those have inevitably arisen in Golden State, and to see the Warriors trail the Nuggets in the standings is as odd as it was predictable. Ultimately, there is too much talent to question this team’s potential as a repeating Conference champion, but without some cohesion with its lineup and resolution of some defensive issues, the Warriors could be upset in the postseason. It will have done so, to itself, almost.
