NBA Free Pick – Thursday, January 20, 2011
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Dallas Mavericks (27-14) at Chicago Bulls (28-14)
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 8:00 pm EST on TNT
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The Dallas Mavericks, the second-place team in the Western Conference’s Southwest Division, travel to take on the Chicago Bulls, the first-place team in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division, at the United Center.
Check out the latest NBA Basketball Odds here.
Chicago leads the season series 1-0 after beating the Mavericks 88-83 on Nov. 19 in Dallas.
Dirk Nowitzki is back, which means the Mavericks can once again count themselves among the best teams in the Western Conference. Dallas lost 9 of 12 games before getting a much-needed victory last night over the Los Angeles Lakers at home. The one thing that needs to be considered when thinking about the Mavericks is that they can’t win without Dirk, point blank. And the thing that is holding him back right now is simply getting his wind back, because he is healthy. After missing almost 10 games on the bench, his stamina isn’t where it needs to be yet. And when he’s not in, Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd are unsavory options to try and win the game for Dallas. Not that they’re bad players, they’re just 1-trick ponies.
Derrick Rose has taken the 2010-2011 season and turned it into his coming-out tour thus far. The electric, second-year guard is averaging almost a double-double at 24.7 points and 8 assists per game, but more importantly has shown that he, unlike all but 2-3 other guards in the league, can go effortlessly from the point to the shooting guard position. The problem right now is that with Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer still nursing injuries, he has to do it all. At home, he’s shown that’s no problem, when his scoring average soars over 30 points.
The odds makers have the Chicago Bulls as a -3.5 point favorite with an over/under of 185.5.
The Mavericks have shown they can’t win without Dirk Nowitzki. The Bulls have so much young talent, but Rose has shown he’s really the one guy they must have in order to pick up victories.
Look for Rose to put on another offensive show at home and the Bulls win by 3.
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Dallas Mavericks Betting Trends:
- Dallas is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
- Dallas is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games on the road
- Dallas is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games on the road
- Dallas is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Chicago Bulls Betting Trends:
- Chicago is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago’s last 7 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Chicago’s last 19 games at home
- Chicago is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
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