A big time matchup comes our way Wednesday in the NBA as the Los Angeles Lakers travel to take on the Dallas Mavericks in Western Conference action. The game is scheduled for a 9:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds have the Mavericks favored by 4.5 points with the total sitting at 180.5 points.
Free Analysis: The Dallas Mavericks have rebounded well after a tough start to the season. The Lakers are just outside the top teams in the Western Conference and are having a lot of problems. They have some anymosity amongst themselves as a club and they struggle to win basketball games on the road. Aside from tonight's game against the Mavs, LA will travel to Oklahoma City on Thursday night to take on the Thunder. Los Angeles beat Dallas 73-70 at Staples last month in a less than stellar matchup for obvious reasons. At the time it was a good win for LA, who had won 10 of 13 games overall. Now, a month later, they are an absolute mess. Kobe Bryant ripped Lakers management after a 102-90 loss at Phoenix on Sunday for allowing Pau Gasol to dangle as additional trade rumors have surfaced. Bryant and Derek Fisher called a team meeting after the game to argue some things out and they responded well, opening on a 37-7 run against Portland before winning by nine points. That win was the 14th on the season at home for the Lakers, while their road mark still sees them with only five wins. In fact, after going a Western Conference-best 27-14 away from home last season, they're 5-11 to date. That includes 1-6 against teams at or above .500 — bad news considering the Mavs and Thunder are a combined 46-19 on the year. In order to win tonight the Lakers are going to have to get good efforts from Gasol and Andrew Bynum. In last month's contest Bynum had a solid game, connecting for 17 points while pulling down 15 boards in the win. Bynum will probably have to deal with some nasty crowd members as well. The last time the Lakers were in Dallas was in the Western Conference Finals last season when Bynum close-lined J.J. Barea. How he handles that could prove big for the Lakers tonight. For Dallas, this is their final game before the All-Star Break this weekend. Dallas has won seven of eight games after beating the Boston Celtics 89-73 on Monday, as Dirk Nowitzki moved into the top 20 on the all-time scoring list with a game-high 26 points in the win. The Mavs have held opponents to 85.8 points per game and 38.9 percent shooting while winning four in a row at home. In fact, the loss to the Lakers is Dallas' only defeat in the 14 games in which it's held opponents to 90 or fewer points. That's doing pretty well by yourself. Jason Terry has averaged 24 points — hitting 20 of 33 3-pointers — in the Mavs' last five home games against Los Angeles. Bryant has averaged 18.2 points in that stretch, missing all 16 attempts from beyond the arc. Terry's defense on Bryant will be crucial to the Mavs tonight, who come in with a 13-5 record at home this season.
Free Pick: I like the Mavs in this one. The Lakers' obvious struggles on the road cannot be ignored at this point in the season and we have to at least look at Dallas in this spot. The Mavs are in a good position here, being it's their final game before the All-Star Break. Getting a win at home against the Lakers could prove to continue to be a positive for Dallas, who have moved up to the third spot in the Western Conference. LA currently sits at fifth in the conference standings and a win tonight for them could prove to be huge heading into the break.
Free Picks: Lakers at Mavs Betting
Bad scheduling spot for both teams and Lakers Playoff sweep revenge plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Lakers at Mavs (Wednesday, Wednesday, February 22, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.