After the first encounter between these two teams ending in Celtic’s favour, Dallas will hope to get their revenge at American Airlines Center, Dallas.
Dallas Mavericks have slowly started climbing the Western Conference table and are currently at 11th position with a record of (22-32). Looking at their past games, it’s clear they have been improving by a lot. In last 10 games, Dallas won 7 and are currently on a 2 game winning streak. In the course of last 2 games, Dallas won against Utah Jazz (112:105)(OT) and Orlando Magic (112:80). Looking at the match against Orlando Magic, Mavericks accumulated a lead of 6 points in the 1st quarter, which was drastically increased in the 2nd quarter, when Dallas outscored Orlando by 20 points (32:12), thus going into 2nd half with a 26 point lead. 3rd quarter ended in a same fashion as the first 2 quarters did, with Dallas increasing their lead by 6 points. The game was decided by that point, with 32 point lead by Mavericks. Last 12 minutes ended with a tie (28:28) and with that, we saw Dallas adding another W to their record. Top scorers of the match: Matthews (20pts), Biyombo (15pts) and Fournier (14pts)
Boston Celtics are currently enjoying a great form, with only 1 defeat in the past 10 games, but they did lose a match they shouldn’t have. Losing a game against Kings (108:92) is something Celtics should not afford, but let’s call it a bump on the road as they did manage to defeat much better teams compared to Kings in recent matches. Celtics are currently at 2nd spot in the East and that spot is well deserved in my opinion. They have been fairly consistent with their performances, despite losing some games, they quickly got back up and played the way they should. The last match Celtics played was against Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City. The match, we could say was won in the 1st half, with Celtics outscoring Utah by 10 points in 1st quarter and by 4 in 2nd quarter, thus going into 2nd half with 14 point lead. In 3rd (21:19) and 4th (29:35) quarter we could see Utah fighting back, but they sadly did not manage to catch up to Celtics. Celtics were shooting almost 19% better compared to Jazz (59.2%FG – 40.7%FG) and if they manage to repeat that success today there is no reason why they would not add another win to their record. Top scorers of the match: Hayward (31pts), Thomas (29pts) and Hill (22pts).
Verdict & Prediction
This will be a tough match for both sides as they are both showing some great performances in recent weeks. Looking at the form of Dallas at home (7-3) and Celtics away form (8-2), there is not much to separate them, so any advantage these teams can get will improve their chances to win drastically. With that in mind I will be betting on Dallas +2, which should give them an edge to go on and win their 3rd game in a row.
Prediction: Dallas Mavericks +2 points
Odds: 1.92 Pinnacle
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