Free Play Breakdown & Prediction: Mavericks vs. Suns (10/19/2022) - Taking Vegas

Free Play Breakdown & Prediction: Mavericks vs. Suns (10/19/2022)

By TakingVegas Staff Writer
October 19, 2022
Photo by: Tom Pennington - Getty Images

Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns (10/19 @ 10:00 PM EST.)

Line: Suns (-4.5)
Total: 218

Dallas Mavericks Vs. Phoenix Suns Preview and Prediction

The new NBA season will be starting on Tuesday, and one of the first games in store for the NBA season will be between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns.

Odds Shark has Phoenix sitting as the favorite for this game at -233, and they have Dallas as the underdogs at +195. They have the over/under of 216.5 total points scored throughout the game.

Both of these teams have a solid roster, so this game has the potential to go either way.

Phoenix Might Not Be as Good This Season

This will be a matchup from last year in the playoffs, and Phoenix will be looking to get revenge on Dallas for eliminating them.

But, this won’t be easy. Phoenix is still a good team, but they did not improve their roster this off-season. And on top of that, Chris Paul started to show his age in the playoffs last year. So now, Phoenix cannot rely on him as much. Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker should improve, but their roster has not improved much at all.

Dallas will be difficult for the Suns to guard. The Mavericks don’t have too many offensive weapons on their team, but Luka Dončić is really difficult for any team to guard. They also added Christian Wood this off-season, who is a very solid player overall.

If Phoenix ends up losing this game, then it will be because Luka Dončić will probably take over the game.

Dallas Didn’t Improve Much Either

The Dallas Mavericks made it all the way to the conference finals last season before being eliminated by the Warriors, and they may have gotten worse during this off-season.

Although they did add Christian Wood to their roster, they also lost Jalen Brunson to the New York Knicks. They do have Spencer Dinwiddie, who can also be a good scorer alongside Dončić.

A problem for Dallas in this game could be Deandre Ayton. Ayton should be taking another step in his career, and he won’t be easy to guard. Christian Wood could challenge Ayton a little bit, but an aging JaVale McGee won’t be able to stop him, and Dwight Powell is not too great of a defender.

If Luka Dončić can play well in this game, then Dallas can have a chance to win. But, their defense will most likely struggle against Phoenix

Phoenix Should be Able to Pick Up the Win

The Suns should be able to get a win in their first game of the season.

Dallas could put themselves in a situation to win if their offense performs well, but their defense will struggle against this Suns team.

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