NBA Rivalry Week Mavericks vs Suns Prediction & Player Prop of the Game: Can Luka lead the Mavs to a Win in the Desert?

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, fresh off of a loss at home against the Wizards 2 nights ago, roll into Phoenix to take on the Suns in a Western Conference Semi-Finals rematch.

Footprint Center will be rockin' tonight, no doubt, as the Suns look to get revenge on their Western Conference foes as a part of Rivalry Week in the NBA.

Here is all the game information you need, a betting prediction and a MUST BET player prop for this fun one in the Desert tonight.

Let's dive in…

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Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns

• Game Date and Time: Thursday, January 26th, 2023. 10:00 PM EST
• Game Location: Footprint Center. Pheonix, Arizona.
• Where to Watch: TNT/NBA TV

Spread

• Mavericks +1.5 (-110)
• Suns -1.5 (-110)

MoneyLine

• Mavericks (+100)
• Suns (-120)

Total

• Over 221.5 (-110)
• Under 221.5 (-110)

ALL ODDS AVAILABLE HERE

Prediction

This is for sure going to be a battle from start to finish tonight.

The Suns are still without Devin Booker but the play of DeAndre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Chris Paul has been enough to keep things afloat.

They picked up an impressive win against the lowly Hornets 2 nights ago, 128-97, and will look to build on that momentum against the Mavs tonight.

Both of these teams are 25-24 and sit 5th and 6th in the West respectively, but the Suns have quietly won 4 in a row and are playing good team basketball.

The Mavs, however, go how Luka goes and that hasn't translated to wins as of late. They are 3-7 in their last 10 and have dropped 2 straight.

With no Christian Wood tonight and for the forseeable future, it is up to Luka and guys like Spencer Dinwiddie to right the ship a bit for the Western Conference finalists from a year ago.

In a close game, with a lot on the line and emotions running high, I like the road Mavs to cover here.

In the 2 matchups this season so far, the Suns won by 2 in Phoenix in October and the Mavs cleaned up by 19 at home in December.

It is a tight spread for a reason, but I think the Mavs keep this close, on the back of big games from Luka and Dinwidde.

Give me the points.

Best Bet

Mavericks +1.5 (-110)

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Player Prop of the Game

Mikal Bridges o3.5 Assists (-115) BetMGM

Let's get this started with Bridges, who has been playing fantastic basketball for the Suns the past 2 weeks, scoring and facilitating.

I love his assists for the fantastic value of -105 and for the recent hit rate.

Bridges has 4+ assists in 10 of the Sun's last 12 games. His 2 misses? He had 3.

I bet on him last game to go over his assists mark and he finished on 3 in a blowout.

With no Devin Booker in the lineup, Bridges has been fantastic scoring as well as facilitating but for the value and the recent success, the assists is my favorite play.

Our friends over at BetAlytics support this play as well. Look at the numbers on Bridges.

 

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His Assists is graded as an A rating, with a 7% Edge and a BA expected line to be valued at -139.

Getting this prop at -105 is fantastic value and is one of my favorite props of the entire NBA board tonight.

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Ok that's it! Enjoy this NBA action tonight!

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