Kevin Durant vs. Luka Doncic: Who Will Score More Points in Nets vs. Mavericks?
By Matt De Saro
The current best team in the Eastern Conference, the Brooklyn Nets, hit the road to take on the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center tonight. The Nets are coming off a 111-107 loss to the Bulls on Saturday night in a game that Kevin Durant had a 28 point/10 rebound double-double.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are dealing with several injures and have dropped two games in a row after losing to the Grizzlies on Saturday.
Let’s go over the prop odds for each superstar and predict who will go over and under their scoring totals. All odds are provided by WynnBET Sportsbook.
Kevin Durant Points Total 27.5 (OVER -130/UNDER -110)
Many in Brooklyn we’re too worried about Kyrie Iriving choosing to sit out with a pair of former MVPs left to pick up the slack. While James Harden has struggled this season so far, Kevin Durant has flourished. Durant is the big reason why the Nets lead the East with a 16-7 record while Harden is the reason they aren't leading by more.
KD is averaging a league-leading 28.6 points per game a 29.8 on the road. In fact, he has been noticeably better away from Brooklyn as far as his shooting stats go. The extra 1.3 PPG is a byproduct of Durant shooting 53.6 percent on the road compared with 45.6 at the Barclays Center.
The Mavericks defense is not the best ever put together and rank 25th in opponents' effective field goal percentage and 24th in opponent shooting efficiency. Additionally. The Mavericks are dealing with a number of injuries with Tim Hardaway Jr. questionable with a knee issue and Will Cauley Stein sitting out for personal reasons. Kristaps Porzingis is probably but still not at 100 percent after missing the last two games.
I think Durant continues his strong play on the road and leads his team to another win of a big-time performance.
Luka Doncic Points Total 27.5 (OVER -125/UNDER -115)
One player, I didn’t mention when listing the injuries tonight was Luka Doncic. The Mavs star is dealing with two injuries. One to his ankle and one to his thumb, and is questionable to play tonight. At this point, his status does appear to be in real jeopardy and even if he does play, he will be slowed by ankle pain.
When he is playing, Doncic is fifth in the NBA with 25.4 points per game and is also tied for fifth in assists. Over his last 10 games, Doncic has picked up the pace and is averaging 26.0 PPG and 26.7 PPG at home.
This call is hard to make because of his injuries. With a dodgy ankle, I would be suspicious enough but throw an injured finger in there and the doubt mounts. I would steer clear of this one.