NBA Betting Preview | Bulls vs. Mavericks Odds, Pick, Prediction

Bulls vs. Mavericks Odds

Editor's Note: Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Christian Wood, Josh Green and Maxi Kleber of the Dallas Mavericks have been ruled out of Friday's game. For real-time injury updates, check out our FantasyLabs NBA news page.

The Chicago Bulls face the Mavericks in Dallas on Friday night. Both teams could be the 10-seed, but only the Bulls are guaranteed to be in the play-in as Dallas still has some work to do.

The Oklahoma City Thunder own the tie-breaker against the Mavericks, and with their win against the Jazz on Thursday, the Mavs need to win their final two games if they have any hope of playing past Easter.

Let’s breakdown the odds and I’ll give out a betting pick for Bulls vs. Mavericks.

Chicago Bulls

Wednesday’s Central Division showdown was a tough one for Chicago Bulls fans as they lost to a Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Bucks team 105-92.

That loss marked the second consecutive game in which the Bulls fell to a team missing its best player. Chicago also lost an important game to the Hawks on Tuesday.

Chicago is faltering at the worst time after going 7-3 ATS in the 10 games prior to this 0-2 skid.

The Bulls are locked into the 10-seed, which means they may rest players. But if Nikola Vucevic plays, I’d look to bet the over on his points prop, which has been set at 17.5 in the past few games — a number he’s cleared in 10 of his past 14 games.

Vucevic's favorite shot is from the midrange (41%), specifically the long midrange — an area where the Mavericks are particularly vulnerable. Dallas allows the eighth-most shots from long midrange and is 26th in field goal percentage allowed in that area (45%), per Cleaning the Glass.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have also been disappointing. It was only a few days ago that there were talks of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic shutting down and tanking the rest of the season.

Instead, Irving and Doncic played against the Kings on Wednesday, and it’s a good thing they did as Dallas came away with a huge win, despite trailing by 11 at halftime.

Dallas made up for a poor start with a dominant third quarter, outscoring the Kings 32-21. Dallas is 7-3 ATS in the third quarter over its past 10 games, but that’s mostly because the Mavericks have been underachieving early and playing from behind.

Irving has been lights out in the fourth quarter over the past few games. He’s averaging 13.7 points per game in the fourth quarter of the past three games. I might look to live bet his points over heading into the fourth, especially if he’s had a quiet scoring night and I’m able to get a better number than the closing points line.

Tim Hardaway Jr. is another player who could see some shine. The Mavericks have had to rely on their 3-point shooting to make up for the worst Offensive Rebounding Percentage in the league, and Hardaway has been one of the benefactors, averaging 20.5 over the past four games.

Bulls-Mavericks Pick

It’s a tricky time to be betting anything other than player props, but the Mavericks have the clear motivational edge. However, that’s more than baked into the line and Dallas has been the worst team as a favorite this season.

I might play a Vucevic and/or Hardaway points prop, but if Vucevic plays, he’s at risk of sitting if the game turns into a blowout.

My favorite play in this game is a Hardaway alternative 3-point prop. Over 3.5 3-pointers made was +135 against the Hawks two games ago and he’s made five or more in three of the past four games. I’ll be looking at his 3-point prop ladder depending on the odds, but think the books might adjust to his recent play.

A live betting angle I’ll be monitoring is the Mavericks spread if they’re down at halftime. Another is Irving's points prop going into the fourth quarter.

I don’t have an official play on this game at the moment, but I’ll be monitoring the injury report, so make sure to follow me in the Action Network app (AOWatts) to see how I end up playing this game.

Picks: Live Bet he Mavericks if Down at Halftime | Kyrie Irving Over Points Heading into the 4th Quarter