Utah Jazz vs Dallas Mavericks
October 6, 2021 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: Dallas Mavericks -2.5 / Utah Jazz +2.5
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The Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks meet Wednesday in NBA preseason action at the American Airlines Center. The Utah Jazz lost their preseason opener to the Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks are coming off back-to-back playoff trips and will now begin the Jason Kidd coaching era.
The Utah Jazz have lost five of their last eight preseason games. The Utah Jazz are averaging 85 points on 31.7 percent shooting and allowing 111 points on 46.5 percent shooting. Jared Butler is averaging 16 points and two assists while Jordan Clarkson is averaging 11 points and two rebounds. Donovan Mitchell is the third double-digit scorer and Elijah Hughes is grabbing eight rebounds. The Utah Jazz are shooting 23.3 percent from beyond the arc and 60 percent from the free throw line. The Utah Jazz are allowing 35.3 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 47 rebounds per game.
The Dallas Mavericks won’t have Rick Carlisle around for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The Mavs also strengthened the overall depth of their roster with the additions of Reggie Bullock, Sterling Brown, Moses Brown and Frank Ntilikina. Of course, the Mavs will go as far as Luka Doncic leads, as he’s one of the top players in the world and only 22 years old. Tim Hardaway Jr. is coming off possibly the best year of his career and a healthy Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber would certainly help the front court. The biggest question mark for the Mavericks is Kristaps Porzingis, as he’s had injury and consistency issues the last three seasons. The Mavericks ceiling is determined by which Porzingis they get this season, as they can make a deep playoff run if he returns to all-star level.
The Jazz are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Mavericks are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Jazz can’t play any worse offensively than they did in their preseason opener, but not giving Mitchell a bunch of minutes does leave the potential for another ugly performance. The Dallas Mavericks are likely going to give some of their key players a run here with a new coach and new schemes being put in place. Powell, DFS and Ntilikina have been ruled out, but nothing has been said about Doncic, who plays every chance he gets.
I lean Mavericks here at home.
