Free Daily NCAAF Lock Pick, Tuesday October 24th: Liberty vs Western Kentucky 7:30pmET
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Neither of these Texas teams sniffed the postseason last year, but both are hoping that offseason moves will change that. The Dallas Mavericks (38-44; 30-49-3 ATS last season) and San Antonio Spurs (22-60; 33-49-0 ATS) will put each other to the test in game one. The newly named Frost Bank Center will play host, beginning at 9:30 p.m. EDT. Will the Spurs open their new era with a home win, or does Dallas have something to prove after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign?
Luka Doncic is (somewhat) healthy, Kyrie Irving is beginning the season in a Mavericks uniform, and this team wants a lot better results than last season brought. However, bringing in Grant Williams and Dante Exum should shore up a defense that finished last year 25th in defensive rating. A solid defense is how the 2021-22 squad made it to the Western Conference Finals. Dallas' opponents only shot 35.2% from three, the seventh-best mark in the league. In almost every other defensive statistic, the Mavericks were no better than 20th league-wide. One of the NBA's slowest paces didn't make the damage look too bad every night, but per possession, few teams were worse than Dallas.
Offensively, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are two of the most talented players in the NBA. Last year's supporting cast shot helped the team shoot 37.1% from beyond the arc (8th), and Seth Curry was brought back for his third stint with the team. Even with a losing record, the Mavs finished sixth in offensive rating last season. At all three levels, Dallas was top-10 in shooting efficiency a year ago. They also finished second in turnover percentage and third in free throw rate. No team was worse at offensive rebounding, while the Mavs were also 23rd in free throw percentage. It didn't slow them down much, but improving upon those numbers would make Dallas lethal offensively.
Free Daily NCAAF Lock Pick, Tuesday October 24th: Liberty vs Western Kentucky 7:30pmET CLICK TO SEE PICK NOW