Blazers Mavericks Betting – Dallas Look To Carry Over Momentum Into Opening Round Series
The Dallas Mavericks have been a perennial online sports betting contender for over a decade in the Western conference. But after making an appearance in the conference’s final four in seven of the past 11 years, the window may be closing on owner Mark Cuban’s team’s chances to win an NBA title. With a veteran cast that includes Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, the time is now for the Mavericks, which will look to ride the momentum of four straight wins to close the regular season and turn it into an extended postseason betting run beginning in the opening round against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Despite their strong finish, a first round matchup against a team that they split the season series with will not be easy. The Trail Blazers took two of four from Dallas during the regular season, and have a variety of big men that they can use to make life miserable for Nowitzki. LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Camby, and Gerald Wallace will all see time matching up against the Mavericks’ superstar forward throughout the series, and how well they are able to slow him down will go a long way to determining how they are able to compete for a spot in the second round. Portland is one of the few teams in the west that have already proven that they can work Dirk, and the Mavericks will need their other performers to rise to the occasion and help him out. Nowitzki will need center Tyson Chandler to flex his muscle down low and take away some of the attention on him in the paint.
That is especially true with Trail Blazers’ guard Brandon Roy running wild at both sides of the floor. Roy exploited the matchup with some of Dallas’ smaller guards during the season series, and at 6’6’’ can continue to carve them up with his blend of speed, size, and skill. The same can be said about Andre Miller but to a lesser extent, as both men have the height advantage over Kidd, Jason Terry, or JJ Barea. That will keep the Mavericks from being able to use that three-guard lineup that they went with at times this season so that they don’t leave themselves vulnerable at their own end of the sports book floor.
Dallas’ best chance of countering the Trail Blazers has to be in their perimeter shooting, the one fact that Portland may not be able to match. Players such as Nowitzki can use their long-range capabilities to exploit a team that ranked in the bottom half of the association in defending the field goal, and that will push the series even deeper if Dallas can take advantage. Still, there is huge upset potential here for a Portland team that is loaded with talent but hasn’t been able to overcome injuries over the sports betting bonus years. This may finally be the time that the Trail Blazers get it right.
