Basketball betting on Friday includes a late night NBA-TV game as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Dallas Mavs. It is the first game of a three-game road trip for the Mavericks. The NBA betting odds on this game are tight with the Mavericks still in the running for the second seed in the Western Conference. Basketball betting trends indicate that the Mavericks and Blazers have split their last ten meetings overall. This is the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between the two teams. Things have not gone well for Dallas this season against Portland as they have lost all three games. They lost 114-112 and 85-81 at home. They also lost 101-89 at Portland last month. It is strange to see Dallas struggling so much against Portland since the Mavericks are the better team. Before that loss last month, the Mavs had split the last four games in Portland. Three of the last four in this series have gone under the total. The Blazers play solid defense so it could be a low scoring game on Friday.
In the three basketball betting meetings between the teams this season, the Trail Blazers are shooting 48.2% from the field while holding the Mavericks to 43.6% field goal shooting. Andre Miller scored a career-high 52 points in leading Portland to a 114-112 overtime win in Dallas on January 30th. Dallas had won 18 of 20 games against the Trail Blazers before this season, including a 3-0 sweep in 2008-09.
If you are going to bet on the Mavericks you want to do it when they are on the road. They have been terrible at home vs. the point spread but on the road they have been profitable. The Mavericks are 23-15 vs. the basketball betting odds in road games this season. Dallas is led by Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks still have Jason Kidd. Dallas does not have great numbers on offense or defense but they find ways to win games with a balanced offensive attack.
Portland is only 18-19-1 this season at home vs. the NBA betting line. The Blazers are normally much better than a .500 team at home vs. the basketball betting point spread but not this season. The Blazers have been hit by injuries this season but they are about as healthy as they have been for this game against the Mavericks.