Toronto Raptors (21-20) vs. Dallas Mavericks (25-19)
January 19, 2022 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: Dallas Mavericks -3.5; Over/Under: -207.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Dallas Mavericks play host to the Toronto Raptors at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night.
The Toronto Raptors have been in a bit of a rut as they’ve lost three of their past four games and they will be hoping to bounce back after falling just short to the Heat in a 104-99 road loss on Monday. Chris Boucher led the team with 23 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, Fred VanVleet added 22 points, Pascal Siakam scored 18 points with 10 assists and five steals while Scottie Barnes chipped in with 16 points and six assists. As a team, the Raptors shot just 41 percent from the field and 13 of 36 from the 3-point line as they worked hard to cut a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to just three points with 1:48 remaining, but they just couldn’t get over the hump.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks have been in red-hot form as they’ve won nine of their past 10 games overall and they will be gunning for a fourth straight win after outlasting the Thunder in a 104-102 home win on Monday. Luka Doncic led the team with a triple-double of 20 points with 11 rebounds and 12 assists, Dorian Finney-Smith added 17 points with 10 rebounds while Jalen Brunson chipped in with 14 points and eight assists. As a team, the Mavericks shot just 39 percent from the field and 12 of 37 from the 3-point line as they dominated the first half to build an early 22-point lead, before escaping with the narrow win as the Thunder cut the lead to just two points with 25.6 seconds remaining.
Looking at the betting trends, the Raptors are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games against a team with a winning record and 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games overall. The Mavericks are 4-1 ATS in their last five home games, 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall.
Head to head, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall and the under is 5-2 in the last seven meetings in Dallas.
The Raptors are again missing a couple of players in Goran Dragic and Gary Trent Jr. while the Mavericks are sweating on the availability of Maxi Kleber and Reggie Bullock who are both listed as questionable. The Raptors have gone off the boil with three losses in their last four outings while the Mavericks have been on fire over their past 10 games, so it’s not surprising that the Mavericks have opened as favorites at home. The Raptors will snap out of their funk sooner rather than later, but with the line so short, I have to side with the Mavericks at home in this spot.
