Spurs Look to Close in on Mavericks for Playoff Spot

The San Antonio Spurs (24-26 SU, 26-24 ATS) take on their in-state rival Dallas Mavericks (29-22 SU, 26-25 ATS) for the second time this season on Sunday night. The Mavericks won the first meeting 115-104 on the back of a 22-12-12 triple double from Luka Doncic and a double-double from Kristaps Porzingis.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The game opened with the Mavericks as favorites at -6.5 and the line has moved down to -6 across the board. The total opened at 222 and can now be found at 220.5 or 221 with even odds on the OVER and UNDER at most books.

San Antonio News & Notes

The San Antonio Spurs sit in ninth place, just outside the playoffs in the Western Conference as they head into the final stretch of the season. Unfortunately, the Spurs have lost six games in a row and have a been a poor team overall this season.

The Spurs don’t shoot the basketball very well. They rank 20^th in field goal percentage, 22^nd in three point percentage and only have one player who ranks in the top 50 in the league in points per game (DeMar DeRozan at 36^th). Dejounte Murray is the only other player on the team who averages more than fifteen points per game – he ranks 76^th in the league. The last time these teams played, DeRozan led the team with 30 points and eleven rebounds to record the double-double.

Defensively the Spurs are much better. Though team ranks 25^th in rebounding percentage, they are eleventh in defensive rating and first in turnover percentage.

Dallas News & Notes

The Dallas Mavericks sit in somewhat of a precarious position in the Western Conference. The team sits in seventh, but are just 4.5 games up on the ninth place Spurs. The good news is the team has won seven of their last ten games and sport solid underlying numbers.

The Mavs rank tenth in offensive rating, fourteenth in defensive rating and barely turn the ball over ranking third in turnover percentage. Dallas shoots the ball pretty well too as they rank fourteenth in field goal percentage and seventeenth in three-point percentage.

Of course, it helps when you have one of the best players in the league handling the ball most of the time. Point guard Luka Doncic is having another fantastic campaign as he ranks sixth in the league averaging 28.5 points per game. Doncic also averages 8.2 assists and 8.7 rebounds per game.

Kristaps Porzingis provides a solid secondary scoring option as well averaging 20.4 points per game, 40^th in the league.