NBA Best Bets for Mavericks at Thunder for January 8th

NBA BEST BETS FOR MAVERICKS AT THUNDER FOR JANUARY 8th - Two teams picking up form clash here as Luka Doncic and his Mavericks travel to Oklahoma to take on a Thunder, who have been picking up their form recently.

The Thunder began a new streak with their win over the Wizards on Friday and, before that, pulled off a shock victory over this season’s pacesetters in the Boston Celtics. They are currently 6-4 in their last ten games.

For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic has been on fire this season, leading the team in almost all their stats, as well as leading the league in points.

The Mavericks are currently 7-3 in their last 10 and lost last time out to the Celtics, they sit fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Destructive Doncic

Luka Doncic currently leads the Mavericks for points averaging 34.0 per game. He also leads in assists and rebounds with 8.8 rebounds per game and 8.7 assists per game.

He has been one of the league’s most dominant forces this season, as proven when he was the first player to reach the 1000-point mark.

His points average makes him the league leader and his assists see the 23-year-old fourth in the league leaders there.

As for others within their team, Christian Wood has been one player who has been strong defensively averaging 1.1 blocks per game for the Mavs.

Resilient Thunder

It has been a difficult season for the Thunder from the very beginning, their top draft pick, Chet Holmgren, has been injured since joining with his Lisfranc injury which will see him miss a lot of time.

Despite this, they are not one of the worst teams we see this year and they have been able to pick up some vital wins when needed such as their victory over the Celtics earlier this week.

One man to thank for this is Shai Gilgeous Alexander who currently leads the Thunder with 30.9 points per game and 5.7 assists.

Josh Giddey leads the way in rebounds for the side with 7.9 per game.

The Pick

Despite being strong defensively, one weak point in the Thunder’s game is their three-point defense. They currently sit 23rd in the league, allowing 38.4 points per game on average from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks are strong at defending the perimeter. They have the third-best record in the league allowing only 33.2 per game, giving them the clear lead if the game were to come down to three-point shooting.

However, on the fastbreak, the Thunder are the best in the league allowing only 11.4 per game on opponent fastbreak offense, while Dallas only allows 12.6.

Another tight game on this statistic but Oklahoma just takes the edge over Dallas here.

These stats aside, it’s going to be a tough night for the Thunder, and I think Dallas takes the win here as well as covering the spread.

Author

Chris O'Brien, Contributor

Chris O'Brien is an NBA Godzilla Wins analyst and handicapper.
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NBA Best Bets for Mavericks at Thunder for January 8th