Milwaukee Bucks vs Dallas Mavericks Preview (12/9/22): Prediction, Starting Lineups, Odds

By Andrew Norton | Dec 09, 2022, 1:46am

Contents

The Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks will battle it out on Friday night; one of these teams will extend their three-game winning streak to four, while the other will have to start over. Check out which team below has the advantage in this matchup, including the projected starting lineups, updated injury reports for both teams, and current odds and betting picks, too!

Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Dallas Mavericks Betting Odds

The Milwaukee Bucks are one-point favorites over the Mavericks in Dallas. Milwaukee and Dallas will have all key players available for this game; the only players listed on the injury reports are Wesley Matthews and Joe Ingles for the Bucks and McKinley Wright IV for the Mavs.

Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Dallas Mavericks Prediction

Milwaukee has surged recently, winning six of its past seven games. Anthony Davis, and his massive 44-point night, was the only thing keeping the Bucks from seven-straight wins. What’s even more exciting than that is that Khris Middleton is back in the lineup. Middleton missed the beginning of the season due to a wrist injury on his non-shooting hand; Milwaukee still looked as good as it ever has. Now that Middleton is back, the Bucks should be able to compete with the Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Dallas has been on a roller coaster through its first 24 games of the 2022-23 season; its heliocentric offense has looked elite at times and flawed at others. Defensive prowess and effort helped Dallas last season, towards the end of the year and in the playoffs. We haven’t seen that as much this season. Anytime Dallas wasn’t shooting well from deep, it could at least lean on its defense.

Unfortunately for Dallas, this matchup is not good. The Mavericks are a horrendous rebounding team, with only Philadelphia and Brooklyn ranking worse in total rebounding rate. On the other hand, Milwaukee is one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA. Second-chance points will be the Mavs’ demise in this game; Milwaukee hasn’t shot well from deep this season, but inside-out three-pointers are the easiest ones to make. Additionally, Milwaukee has two elite defenders it can throw on Luka Doncic throughout the game: Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo. They won’t stop Doncic, but they can make his life much more difficult. I like the Bucks to grab a key road win here.

Betting Trends

Milwaukee is 4-4-1 ATS on the road in 2022-23
Dallas is 4-8-1 ATS at home in 2022-23
The combined over record of these two teams is 27-21 in 2022-23

Key Matchups

It should go without saying what the key matchup will be in this game: Giannis Antetokounmpo versus Luka Doncic. Doncic and Giannis are among the top three MVP favorites through the first 30% of the season. Take a look below at which player has an advantage in this one!

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Luka Doncic

Historically, Giannis has had field days against the Mavericks, averaging 33 points and 13 rebounds per game in his past seven games. Giannis has shot just shy of 60% during that span, which is elite. Additionally, the Mavericks have allowed the fourth-most points to opposing power forwards, so this matchup bodes well for the “Greek Freak.”

As mentioned above, Doncic won’t be stopped by any team or player; he can only be limited, relative to his usual output. Milwaukee boasts the second-best defensive rating in the NBA and has incredible interior defenders in Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, two favorites for Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, Doncic will be tasked with trying to facilitate with Jrue Holiday hounding him. Despite being shorter than Luka, Holiday is more than capable of holding his own in the post, too. This matchup favors Giannis and the Bucks. Advantage: Giannis.

Milwaukee Bucks Starting Lineup

PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Grayson Allen
SF: Khris Middleton
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Brook Lopez

Milwaukee Bucks Team Pages

Dallas Mavericks Starting Lineups

PG: Luka Doncic
SG: Spencer Dinwiddie
SF: Tim Hardaway Jr
PF: Dorian Finney-Smith
C: Dwight Powell

Dallas Mavericks Team Pages

Key Injuries

Milwaukee Bucks Injuries: Wesley Matthews (Out), Joe Ingles (Out)

Dallas Mavericks Injuries: McKinley Wright IV (Out)

Andrew Norton

Drew is one of the NBA Lead Writers at Lineups.com, specializing in betting content such as game predictions and player props. With a deep knowledge of players and prospects, Drew has an extensive edge in covering everything NBA.