The Dallas Mavericks will try and extend their season high five-game winning streak on Friday in Atlanta (7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN). It will not be easy considering the Hawks are 18-8 this season against Western Conference teams including 10-1 at home.
“Atlanta is a tough team,” Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki said. “They beat us here last time. So we’ll see what happens. They’re very athletic; they really gave us trouble with their athleticism the last time.”
Atlanta has not swept the Mavericks in a season series in six years. The Hawks are 3-point favorites and the total is set at 195 at SBG Global.
Dallas has been a much better team since they acquired Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood in a trade with the Washington Wizards. They have held opponents to 43.6 percent shooting in the seven games since the trade.
Even DeShawn Stevenson, who was also part of that trade, is contributing. He got his first start on Wednesday and shutdown Kobe Bryant in Dallas’ 101-96 win over the Lakers.
“We’ve been playing pretty good defense with the new guys,” guard Jason Kidd said. “This was another example where our shots weren’t going down, but we relied on our defense and got some stops.”
Caron Butler did not play in that game due to illness.
“I am really proud of the guys how they battled without Caron,” said Nowitzki, “Hopefully, we can get him back soon.”
Atlanta has won six of their last seven at home. Josh Smith had 27 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in their win over Minnesota on Wednesday.
“He was all over the place,” coach Mike Woodson said. “He blocked some shots. He scored for us, made some free throws. He was solid from beginning to end, and we’re going to need him the rest of the way.”
The Hawks got 31 points from Joe Johnson in their win over Dallas back in December. Nowitzki led Dallas with 32 points.
Here are some key NBA betting stats for Friday’s game:
Even though Dallas has been playing better lately, the Mavs betting trends are still poor. They are 6-16 ATS in their last 22 games overall and they are 2-7 ATS in their last nine vs. the Southeast. The Mavericks are 1-5 ATS in the last six meetings in Atlanta.
The under is 11-5 in the Mavericks’ last 16 vs. the Southeast. The under is 4-0 in the last four meetings between the two teams.
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Title: NBA Betting Preview: Mavericks at Hawks
Duration: 0:00
Submited by: SBGGlobal.com
Category: Sports Roundup
Added on: February 26th, 2010
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