NBA Betting – Phoenix Suns at Dallas Mavericks

Phoenix Suns at Dallas Mavericks (-8)

The Dallas Mavericks (46-31) are firmly entrenched in seventh spot in the Western Conference, four games up on eighth-place New Orleans and 5.5 back of sixth-place San Antonio. Though the team can’t do much about its playoff seeding at this point, it will still try to enter the postseason on a high-note. The Mavs can exorcise one of the demons that has plagued them in recent times when they face the Phoenix Suns (39-39) tonight at the American Airlines Center (6:30 p.m. Eastern).

Dallas has dropped three straight to the Suns (and Phoenix has covered the spread in the last four). Last time they met (March 22), the Suns emerged with a 98-92 win in Phoenix on the strength of 20 points, nine assists, and six boards from guard Eric Bledsoe.

The Mavs’ commonly porous defense allowed Phoenix to shoot over 50-percent from the field, while the Dirk Nowitzki and company had an off-shooting night, connecting on just 38-percent.

Both teams have struggled since that time, with Dallas going 2-4 (including losses to the Warriors and Rockets in their last two outings) and Phoenix losing six of seven.

The Suns played arguably their worst game of the season last time out, falling to Atlanta 96-69. None of the Phoenix starters hit double-figures in the game.

Head coach Jeff Hornacek lamented his inexperienced team’s lack of leadership. “The best leaders are the guys that will do in actions and will do it with their words. While they’re on the court, they’ll try to pump somebody up and give somebody encouragement. Right now, we’re a young team, and we don’t have one guy that has developed into that yet,” explained Hornacek.

The leadership vacuum for the Suns has been exacerbated since fourth-year guard Brandon Knight (17 PPG, 5.2 APG) was shut down for the year with a heel injury.

The Mavs are suffering from their own injury problems as Chandler Parsons (right knee soreness) and point guard Rajon (hyperextended left knee) are listed as day-to-day. But head coach Rick Carlisle is confident his bench can pick up the slack.

“[Richard] Jefferson and [Charlie] Villanueva are in play every night,” said Carlisle. “If somebody gets an extra foul, or things aren’t going great, and we need force and energy, R.J. always gives us that. Charlie stretches the floor and gives us shot-making.”

Despite their poor SU record of late, the Suns are actually 5-1 ATS in their last six road games; the Mavericks, on the other hand, are 0-5 ATS in their last five as a favorite. With Dallas laying eight tonight, consider taking Phoenix and the points.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)