The surging Dallas Mavericks, who are 2.5 games back of the eighth place Lakers in the Western Conference standings, will face the San Antonio Spurs tonight at the AT&T Center. Start time in this evening’s meeting between the Southwest rivals is set for 8:00pm ET; the game will be broadcast live on TNT. NBA Odds at offshore bookmaker BetOnline have the Spurs listed as a -9 against the spread home favorite and the Over/Under set at 206 points. The Mavericks are drawing +375 moneyline odds ($100 wins $375) to win their fourth straight road game.

Dallas won its fourth straight game on Tuesday night, defeating a solid Bucks team 115-108 in Milwaukee. The victory improved the Mavericks record to 30-33 and drew them to within 2.5 games of qualifying for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

Dallas, which survived a 32 point effort from Monta Ellis, got 19 points and 11 rebounds from Dirk Nowitzki, but veteran Vince Carter led the team with 23 points in 22 minutes off the bench.

The Mavericks will look to duplicate their winning performance tonight against a Spurs squad still smarting from Tuesday’s embarrassing 107-83 loss at Minnesota.

San Antonio, which played without Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Kawhi Leonard against the Timberwolves, shot just 35.4 percent from the field, but its defensive effort was even worse. Minnesota, one of the worst shooting teams in the league (43.3 percent), knocked down 44-of-82 from the field and 12-of-20 from beyond the arc.

The poor showing will, no doubt, spur a better performance tonight as San Antonio looks to avoid its fourth loss in eight games.

Notable Trends: The Spurs, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games against Dallas, are 7-2-1 against the spread and 10-0 straight up in their last 10 games as a home favorite with a spread between 8 and 10.5 points. The Under is 6-1 in the Spurs last seven games playing as a home favorite coming off a road loss.

Dallas Mavericks vs San Antonio Spurs NBA Odds:

Dallas Mavericks +9 (-110), Over 206 (-110), +370 (Moneyline)

San Antonio Spurs -9 (-110), Under 206 (-110), -445 (Moneyline)

NBA Free Picks: Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs Betting

What NBA bettors need to know about Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs on Thursday (3/14/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Vegas Runner with host Steve Fezzik.