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New Orleans Pelicans vs Dallas Mavericks: Both teams are underperforming so far in the season

The Dallas Mavericks are hosting the New Orleans Pelicans today at American Airlines Center.

The Pelicans are still struggling with injuries

The New Orleans Pelicans are 14th in the Western Conference with a 4-10 record, including 1-5 on the road. They have lost 7 of the last 8 games and are coming off a 104-99 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pelicans are among the bottom four teams in the league scoring 104.6 points per game on 43.8% shooting from the field. Brandon Ingram leads the team averaging 23.6 points per game.

Can the Mavs step up?

The Dallas Mavericks are 10th in the Western Conference with a 7-7 record, including 5-3 at home. They are coming off a 121-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, their only second win in the last six games. The Mavericks are sixth in the league shooting 47.8% from the field and 13th scoring 114.4 points per game. Luka Doncic leads the team averaging 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game.

Betting Trends

The Mavericks are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games overall, 8-2 SU in their last 10 home games against the Pelicans and 2-5 SU in their last 7 games against teams from the Western Conference. They are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 2-7 ATS in their last 9 home games played on Tuesday. Dallas has played under the total point line in 13 of their last 19 games overall, 6 of their last 7 home games and 6 of their last 9 games played on Tuesday while they have gone over in 6 of their last 9 games against New Orleans. The Pelicans are 1-7 SU in their last 8 games overall, 6-13 SU in their last 19 gamaes against Dallas and 1-6 SU in their last 7 games against teams from the Western Conference. They are 3-10 ATS in their last 13 games overall, 0-7 ATS in their last 7 games on the road and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against teams from the Southwest Division. New Orleans has played under the total point line in 4 of their last 5 games overall.

Prediction and Conclusion

Both the Pelicans and the Mavericks are struggling with injuries. New Orleans has been playing without Zion Williamson and CJ MCCollum for a while now, while the Mavs have been playing without Kyrie Irving. This put both teams in a difficult situation and had a lot of making up to do. Luka Doncic is playing in excellent form and will definitely lead the Mavs to a win, but the given spread is still too big. Therefore, we go with the Pelicans to cover the +10.5-point spread.