NBA Odds – Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs will begin their title defense tomorrow night when they host Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center (8:00 p.m. Eastern) on opening night in the NBA.

Unsurprisingly, the Spurs are expected to win at home, currently sitting as 6.5 point favorites. Last season, San Antonio posted an impressive 45-37 record against the spread. But they have had less success against the Mavs recently, going just 1-4 ATS in the last five at home against Dallas. On the other side, Dallas ended 43-38-1 ATS last year.

The over/under sits at 206.5 points. If you’re looking for a trend in the over/under, Dallas hit the over in five of six to end last season, and Mavs-Spurs games have also hit the over in five of six.

At the start of each of the last few seasons, the pundits have said that this is the year the Spurs will fall off, that this is the year Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili are too old to contend with the best the NBA has to offer. After making the finals in 2013 and taking home the title last season, it seems that the pundits have learned their lesson. The Spurs are second only to the stacked Cavaliers in the preseason NBA championship odds.  Coach Gregg Popovich will have almost the exact same team on the floor this year. However, emerging star Kawhi Leonard will miss the season opener with an eye infection. And Kyle Anderson, a 6’9″ forward out of UCLA, will make his NBA debut.

Dallas made a number of moves in the offseason in an attempt to get back to their championship form from 2011; among the new additions are Jameer Nelson, Al-Faroq Aminu, Ivan Johnson, and Richard Jefferson. However, head coach Rick Carlisle’s hopes may be highest for Chandler Parsons. The third-year small forward out of Florida averaged 16.6 points per game for the Rockets in the regular season last year, and upped that to 19.6 PPG in Houston’s six playoff games.