Dallas 5-1 ATS as Road Underdog This Season; Getting 8 Points in Philadelphia on Friday Night

• The Dallas Mavericks will be without Luka Doncic on Friday night
• The Mavs lead the NBA in points per game on the road with 120.1
• No team allows less points per game at home than the Philadelphia 76ers at 99.5

The Dallas Mavericks are a sizeable road dog in Philadelphia on Friday night as they’re currently playing without superstar Luka Doncic (ankle).

Dallas have dropped three of their last five while the 76ers have lost two in a row.

The Mavericks vs 76ers odds show that Philadelphia is an eight-point favorite. Which team will get back on track on Friday?

Dallas Mavericks vs Philadelphia 76ers Odds

Odds taken Dec. 19th

Mavs Struggling Without Doncic

The Mavericks started the season with wins in 17 of their first 24 games and held the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. A lot of that was due to the efforts of Doncic, who has been performing like an MVP-caliber type of player.

He’s currently third in the NBA in scoring (29.3) and is also averaging 9.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game.

Without Doncic, the team has labored – especially at the offensive end. On the season, the Mavs are fourth in the NBA in points per contest (117.6) but the team scored just 103 in their latest loss. That’s their lowest mark in a game in nearly a month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s8fxXUpCrw

The Mavs are getting good contributions from Kristaps Porzingis, who is averaging 17.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 2.0 threes and 1.5 assists per game. He’s scored 20 or more in four straight games.

However, without Doncic, this team is much easier to defend as defenses can collapse on Porzingis.

76ers Hot Streak Has Come to an End

The 76ers started the season just 7-5 before turning on the jets. They had won 13 of 15 but now enter Friday’s contest on a two-game losing streak. They lost to a couple of Eastern Conference contenders in back-to-back games against the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat.

The good news for the 76ers is that the home loss to Miami was their first of the season. They’ve been very strong at the Wells Fargo Center. A big reason for it is their defense has been incredible at home.

No team allows less at home than the 76ers, who give up 99.5 per game. They allow 109.2 on the road.

That will be an interesting contrast as we’ll see strength-on-strength here as the Mavs are actually the league’s highest-scoring road team at 120.1 points per game. Only the Houston Rockets (16.8) make more threes on the road than Dallas’ 15.5.

We’ll find out if the 76ers air-tight defense can slow them down.

What’s the Best Bet?

Dallas has been a fantastic road team this season as they’ve covered the spread in 10 of 12 away games. The 76ers are a healthy 14-1 at home but that’s straight up; they’re just 7-6-1 against the spread in those contests.

In terms of the spread here, I’m tempted to lean with Dallas – even though they’re without Doncic. The 76ers don’t cover this type of number that frequently, as they’ve won nine or more just once in their last eight. As for the Mavs, they’ve lost by nine or more just once since November 11th. Take the points here.