The Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat will take the court on Saturday at Miami-Dade Arena. Tip-off from Miami will be at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Dallas (34-35 SU and 25-41-2 ATS) lost to Philadelphia on Wednesday. The Mavs are 1-5 straight-up in their last six games and are one game behind Oklahoma City for the last spot in the Western Conference Play-in Tournament.
Miami (37-33 SU and 25-42-2 ATS) lost to New York on Wednesday. The Heat have lost three straight and are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings. To avoid the Play-in Tournament, they would need to move ahead of Brooklyn, which is 1.5 games ahead.
Dallas beat Miami 115-90 on January 20 in their lone meeting this season. The Heat outscored the Mavs 52-34 in the paint but were ice-cold from three-point range (4-for-20) and turned the ball over 16 times. Dallas didn't have t hat problem, hitting 18 of its 38 three-point attempts (47.4%).
Dallas has fallen from grace, dropping behind Oklahoma City in the playoff race with its recent losing streak. Only five regular-season games remain — can the Mavs make one last push to make the postseason?
Philly took care of its business on Wednesday night at home, outshooting Dallas from the field, three-point range, and at the free-throw line. It also won the rebounding battle and committed fewer turnovers. The Mavericks did not score over the final 3:18 of the game.
“We just can't be a championship game overnight,” Mavs guard Kyrie Irving said. “I've wrapped my head around it. I'm at peace with it.”
Makin' magic ?? pic.twitter.com/cY4MwocQNw
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 30, 2023
Luka Doncic leads Dallas in scoring this season. He averages 32.8 points on 49.6 percent shooting, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game. A few other Mavs to watch are Irving (26.1 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 5.2 RPG), Christian Wood (16.8 PPG and 7.4 RPG), Tim Hardaway Jr. (14.1 PPG), and Josh Green (9.2 PPG).
Dallas averages 113.8 points per game (16th) and shoots 47.4 percent from the field (17th), including 37.2 percent from three (8th). It converts 75.7 percent of its free throws (24th) and averages 38.6 rebounds (30th) with a -5.6 rebounding margin. Dallas is 6th in adjusted offensive rating, 6th in effective field goal percentage (56.4%), and 28th in pace, per Dunks and Threes.
The Mavericks surrender 113.3 points per game on defense (15th), and their opponents shoot 48.5 percent (25th), including 35.2 percent from three (9th). They 9;re 23rd in adjusted defensive rating and 11th in assist-per-turnover ratio.
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