Portland Trail Blazers at Dallas Mavericks

Betting Odds

The Mavericks (57-25, 43-37-2 ATS) are enjoying yet another winning streak. This time, the club has won four consecutive games, including a 4-0 run against the spread. The Mavs enter the playoffs in fine fashion, having absolutely humiliated New Orleans 121-89 in the final game of the regular season.

What Dallas doesn’t have is a quality win in a long time. Since a March 10 victory over the New York Knicks, the Mavericks have no wins over a team seeded sixth or higher in the playoffs—and that win over the Knicks is the only such win in Dallas’ last 32 games. Obviously, Dallas struggles against top-notch competition.

The team has also had some troubles scoring since Caron Butler went down. The team’s statistics are respectable, but inconsistency has been a major problem. Beyond Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, there’s nobody especially reliable in terms of scoring on the Dallas roster.

At least the club can play some defense. The Mavericks have been excellent in their own end over the past week or so, allowing just 91.5 points per game during their four-game winning streak. If Dallas can maintain that kind of effort on “D”, the offensive shortcomings will be much easier to overlook.

Portland (48-34, 43-35-4 ATS) is also on a roll. A 110-86 loss to Golden State in the regular-season finale can be overlook, as the Blazers sat five of its top eight players to get some rest. Before that, Portland was riding a three-game winning streak. Portland covered every one of those games against the spread.

This could very well be a low-scoring series, as Portland also enters the postseason playing some great defense. The Trail Blazers allowed just 87.3 points per game during the recent winning streak, with not one opponent cracking the 90-point mark.

Offensively, the club will rely on LaMarcus Aldridge. The forward was rested in the final game, but he’s building some nice momentum toward the playoffs. Aldridge has recorded four consecutive double-doubles, and he’s averaging 23.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in his past two games.

Dallas and Portland split their regular-season series at two wins apiece, with bothteams going 2-0 on home court. Portland was better on NBA odds, though, going 3-1 against the spread. The total went over three times, including the most recent two games. . BetUS.com has set the total for Saturday’s game at 186 points.

Point Spread Pick

Take Portland +5 at 5Dimes.com and get reduced juice every day!