Basketball betting has Portland doing the Texas two step as they are in Dallas on Saturday to face the Mavericks. It is a tough NBA betting spot for the Blazers as they were in Houston last night. Here is a look at what should be an interesting matchup on Saturday night between the Blazers and Mavericks.
Basketball betting has had Dallas winning 7 of the last 10 meetings against Portland but they are just 5-5 against the NBA betting line. The teams met in Dallas last month and the Blazers actually came away with an 85-81 win. That is not normally the case though as the Blazers have traditionally struggled at Dallas in basketball betting. Five of the last six at Dallas between the two teams have gone under the basketball betting total including last month’s game.
Portland has played well without point guard Brandon Roy who is still injured. The Blazers are hoping he can return next week. Portland has hung together despite the numerous injuries. They are also pretty good on the road in NBA betting. The Blazers are 13-9 in basketball betting on the road this season. Portland is third in the league on defense and in the bottom third on offense, yet more often than not on the road, their games go over in basketball betting. Portland still has some talented players including LaMarcus Aldridge but sometimes it is very surprising to see the Blazers do well without Brandon Roy in the lineup.
Dallas is one of those teams that drives bettors nuts. They have been simply terrible at home laying points in basketball betting this season but on the road they have been great. The Mavericks are 5-16 versus the NBA betting odds at home this season and it just boggles the mind. Dallas is leading the Southwest Division and they have a very good team, yet they are not covering the NBA point spread in home games very often. The Mavericks are 15th on offense and 13th on defense so far this season. Dirk Nowitzki is having another excellent season and the Mavericks have some talent to go along with him in Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. Too often though, the Mavericks simply let down at home and don’t cover the number. On the road though the Mavericks have been very good so perhaps things will turn around eventually for them at home.