NBA Betting – Game 1 – Dallas at Lakers Handicapping. The Los Angeles Lakers are favored in NBA betting in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. The two-time defending champs struggled with New Orleans in the first round but won in six games while Dallas got past Portland in the first round. Make your NBA bet on this game at SBG.
Lakers -6, total 188.5
The Lakers are laying six points in Game 1 on Monday at Staples Center. The Lakers are heavily favored to win this series but there are still some questions from gamblers making an NBA bet as to whether Los Angeles is playing well enough to win their third straight NBA title.
Inside Matchups
The Lakers don’t have a huge edge inside in this series because the Mavericks have Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood and Dirk Nowitzki. Normally the Lakers can bully other teams in the middle with Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. That will be tougher to do against the Mavericks. The Lakers won their series against the Hornets because of their advantage inside and Dallas will try and avoid making the same mistakes that New Orleans made. The Mavericks will try and keep the ball away from Bynum and Gasol down low.
Jason Terry
If the Mavericks are to have a chance in this series then Jason Terry has to be great. The Hornets gave the Lakers all kinds of problems because they had Chris Paul. The Lakers do not have any defense at the guard position so Terry should be able to take advantage. He is not as quick as Chris Paul though but he is an excellent shooter and if he has a big series the Mavericks might just make things interesting against the Lakers.
Monday Numbers
In this series, the Mavericks are 6-2 in NBA betting in the last 8 meetings in Los Angeles. The Mavericks are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 road games. The Mavericks are 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The Mavericks are 15-6-1 ATS in their last 22 games as a road underdog. The Lakers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games as a home favorite. The Over is 4-1 in the Lakers last 5 games as a home favorite. The Over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Los Angeles.