NBA Playoffs: Dallas vs. Phoenix Odds & Best Bet For Game 1

The Western Conference top-seeded Phoenix Suns host the No. 4 Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Monday with the Suns as solid favorites on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Mavericks at Suns NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 10 PM ET
Where: Footprint Center
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Suns -5.5 (total 214.5)

Season Series

The Suns were 3-0 vs. the Mavericks this season. They last played Jan. 20 and Phoenix won 109-101 – that was before Dallas made the big trade with Washington. Devin Booker scored 28 points and Chris Paul had 20 points and 11 assists with no turnovers. The Suns outscored Dallas 35-19 in the fourth quarter. Paul scored 10 points in the fourth. Luka Doncic scored 28 points, Jalen Brunson added 19 and Kristaps Porzingis had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks. Porzingis was shipped to the Wizards in that mentioned trade.

Why Bet on Dallas?

The Mavericks advanced with a 98-96 win in Utah in Game 6 on Thursday. Luka Doncic had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Doncic produced his lowest scoring output of the three games in the series in which he played, but he registered his highest assist total and made an impact on the defensive end with a pair of blocks and steals. Doncic played in only one game vs. Phoenix during the regular season, putting up a 28/8/8 line but shooting just 9-for-23 from the field in a Jan. 20 loss.

Jalen Brunson also had 24 points in the clinching win over Utah. The shooting guard came up big when Doncic sat out with an injury early in the series and continued to play well upon the star point guard’s return. Brunson finished the first-round series with per-game averages of 27.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists. In the six games against Utah, he scored 131 of his 167 points inside the three-point arc.

“I know I’m not the most athletic and I’m not the fastest,” Brunson said. “But I know how to kind of work angles and use people’s size and athleticism against them. And I just try to keep them off balance. And I’ve been doing that for a long time now.”

Spencer Dinwiddie struggled early in the Utah series but redeemed himself with 7-of-12 shooting, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and piled up 19 points off the bench in Game 6.

“We’ve had guys struggle and we don’t really talk about the struggle,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We talk about trust and knowing that they’re going to get out of that struggle. But we truly believed he was going to have a good game for us in this series and he picked a great one to have it.”

Dorian Finney-Smith had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win. He hit some big shots down the stretch and played a key role in helping the Mavs advance past the first round for the first time since 2011.

The Mavericks are 18-22 all-time in NBA playoff series (13-19 in best-of-7 series, 5-3 in best-of-5 series). Dallas is 100-115 all-time in postseason games, including 83-100 in best-of-seven series playoff games.

Why Bet on Phoenix?

The Suns advanced with a 115-109 win at New Orleans in Game 6 on Thursday. Chris Paul scored 33 points in 36 minutes and went 14-of-14 from the floor. That’s the most field goals made without a miss in NBA playoff history.

“He’s perfected the point guard position,” said Mavs coach Jason Kidd, a Hall of Fame point guard himself. “As you get more reps and you see different defenses, you start to understand what you have to do, and he knows how to move the pieces to get that advantage. When you talk about IQ, it’s off the charts and his competitiveness is off the charts and his will is off the charts. All the things that are off the charts, you’ve just got to make it tough on him.”

“I just know that great players have a knack for that,” head coach Monty Williams said of Paul. “They know when to and when not to. The game slows down for them, slower than it does for everybody else.”

Deandre Ayton didn’t miss his first shot until late in the third and he ended his evening with 22 points (10-of-12 FG), seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in the win. Ayton was a force in the first round against the Pelicans, averaging 20.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and shooting 70 percent from the field.

Devin Booker (hamstring) logged 32 minutes in his return to action on Thursday and scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting (2-of-2 FT), to go with five rebounds and three assists. Booker had been out with the hamstring injury since Game 2. Booker was clearly well below 100%, never really fully exerting himself off the dribble to drive to the basket or take on potential transition opportunities. He was replaced by Cameron Johnson in the first unit after halftime. Johnson finished with 13 points in 24 minutes.

The Suns as they have two more-than-capable defenders in Jae Crowder and Defensive Player of the Year finalist Mikal Bridges, who will surely make life difficult for Mavs star Luka Doncic. In past meetings, Bridges has done a great job of disrupting Doncic’s offensive flow, and can guard Doncic out on the perimeter and has the size to handle his own when Doncic tries to post him up.

Game Trends

Mavericks are 25-10-1 ATS in their last 36 games overall.
Mavericks are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win.
Mavericks are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games as a road underdog.
Suns are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Suns are 17-7 ATS in their last 24 playoff games as a favorite.
Suns are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win.
Mavericks are 3-7 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Phoenix.