Sacramento Kings vs Dallas Mavericks 12/29/21 NBA Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Dallas Mavericks invade the Golden 1 Center to take on the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.

The Dallas Mavericks have been in a rut as they’ve lost four of their past six games, but they will be eager to build some momentum after making light work of the Trail Blazers in a 132-117 road win on Monday. Kristaps Porzingis led the team with 34 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Dwight Powell added 22 points on nine of 11 shooting, Brandon Knight added 18 points and five assists off the bench while Jalen Brunson chimed in with 14 points and nine assists. As a team, the Mavericks shot a sizzling 57 percent from the field and 12 of 33 from the 3-point line as they dominated right from the start, exploding for 38 points in the second quarter to take a 19-point lead into halftime, before making another run in the third quarter to push the margin out to 29 points.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings have been in a slump as they’ve lost seven of their past 10 games overall, but they will be looking to stay hot after sneaking past the Thunder in a 117-111 home win last night. Tyrese Haliburton led the team with 24 pints and 10 assists on nine of 14 shooting, Buddy Hield added 21 points off the bench while Harrison Barnes chipped in with 17 points. As a team, the Kings shot 42 percent from the field and 17 of 39 from the 3-point line as they squandered an early 17-point lead, before rallying back in the third quarter where they used a pivotal 13-0 run to pull away late. De’Aaron Fox had a rough night as he scored just 12 points on four of 17 shooting.

Looking at the betting trends, the Mavericks are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team below. 400, 9-3 ATS in their last 12 road games and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall. The Kings are 1-4 ATS in their last five games playing on zero days’ rest, 4-1 ATS in their last five home games against a team with a losing road record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.

Head to head, the under is 5-0 in the last five meetings overall, the Mavericks are 0-3-1 ATS in the last four meetings in Sacramento and the Mavericks are 7-21-1 ATS in the last 29 meetings overall.

The Kings are just about at full strength in this one, but they are playing this one on zero days’ rest against a Mavericks team who just poured in 132 points in their last outing. The Mavericks have opened as the slight road favorites and for good reason as the Kings were in terrible form before their narrow win over the Thunder. This should be a close one, but I’m sticking with the Mavericks to continue their rise with a narrow win and cover here.