The NBA’s next generation of superstars collides when Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics visit Luka Doncic and Dallas Mavericks as part of TNT’s Thursday night doubleheader. Doncic capped a historic five-game spree scoring 50 points for the third time in five games helping the Mavs beat San Antonio for their sixth consecutive victory. Boston saw its four-game winning streak come to an end in a clash of conference leaders falling to Denver in the opener of a four-game road swing. The teams met in November with Boston snapping a four-game series skid with a 125-112 payout victory.
The matchup between the Celtics and Mavericks takes place on Thursday, January 5, 2023 and will air live on TNT with tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET from American Airlines Center in Dallas. BookMaker.eu will have betting options for every game on the NBA schedule.
Celtics vs Mavs Game Odds
Boston Celtics (Check Back Later)
Dallas Mavericks (Check Back Later)
Total (Check Back Later)
Season to Date
The Celtics seized control of the Eastern Conference and the overall NBA lead with a nine-game winning streak at the start of November. It was part of a run that saw them win 14 of 15 games. Since the start of December, though, they’ve been just average going 8-7 SU and 6-8-1 ATS following their loss to Denver. Their inconsistent play during the last month of the year was highlighted by a three-game home losing streak that included back to back setbacks to the Orlando Magic. The Celtics salvaged the seven-game homestand winning the last four going 3-1 ATS in those games. They played one of their best games of the season in a 21-point win over Milwaukee. Boston has the fifth-best cover rate in the NBA at 56.8 percent.
With Doncic on a roll so are the Mavs. After scoring a season-low 19 points in a loss to Minnesota, he responded with a mere 25 points to split the two-game set with the Wolves. His next five were otherworldly as the Mavs winning streak reached six games. Doncic ended the five-game run with 51 points in a 126-125 win over San Antonio on Sunday the fourth straight game Dallas scored at least 124 points. The Mavs cashed the OVER in all four games and are tied for the best cover rate in the NBA earning payouts in 59.5 percent of their games.
Boston Celtics
Boasting the highest scoring team in the NBA has helped Boston hold down the top spot in the league for most of the last two months. While Doncic has been lighting it up for Dallas, the Celtics have their own prolific scoring threat in Jayson Tatum, who ranks fifth in the NBA averaging nearly 31 points. Tatum scored 25 points in a loss to the Nuggets, his lowest total in eight games. He also skipped a matchup with Orlando a few weeks ago and the team faltered scoring a season-low 92 points. Boston was held to fewer than 100 points just twice in its first 37 games.
Along with sidekick Jaylen Brown, the pair averages 58 points between them accounting for nearly half the team’s league leading 118.6 average. Tatum scored 37 and Brown had 31 as the Celtics ended a four-game losing streak to the Mavs with a 125-112 payout victory in November. And despite their loss to Denver in the opener of their current road trip, the Celtics are a good road team with their 11 wins tied for the second most in the entire NBA.
Dallas Mavericks
One player doesn’t win games in the NBA, but a player the caliber of Doncic can have a major impact. And nobody has done what Luka accomplished over a five-game span that included three games of 50 or more points. The historic run started when he dropped half a hundy with 10 assists in a win over Houston. He capped the spurt with 51 points in a 1-point victory of San Antonio on Sunday. The middle game was the most outlandish with Doncic going for 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in an overtime win over the Knicks. During the span he averaged a triple double with 45.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 10.2 assists and the Mavs needed everything he had since all but the Houston game was decided by single digits.
Doncic scored ‘just’ 39 points against Houston on Monday as the Mavs extended their winning streak to seven games. It was another close game, though, with Dallas failing to cover the 7-point spread in a second straight game in the 111-106 decision. The Mavs are 3-5 ATS in their last eight games. They return home with a four-game winning streak at AAC averaging 127.3 points in that time frame and cashing the OVER in each game.
Celtics at Mavericks Prediction
Doncic has done everything during a winning streak that has the Mavs climbing the West standings yet they barely got by some teams that aren’t very good. Boston has better balance and depth scoring and the return of Robert Williams will aid the defensive effort.
Prediction: Boston Celtics and UNDER
