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Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving lead Dallas Mavericks against Pacers missing Tyrese Halliburton tonight
A betting preview backs Dallas to beat Indiana, arguing that the Mavericks have the stronger squad and a favourable matchup. It points to the Pacers’ lack of available point guards and Dallas’s recent comfortable wins as reasons to take the Mavericks by more than three points.
Indiana is 3-7 this season and has lost four of its past five; Tyrese Haliburton is out with a hamstring injury, while T.J. McConnell is a game-time decision with the same issue. Dallas is 6-4, with all its wins at home, and has beaten Utah by 12 and Brooklyn by almost 40 in its past two games. Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving are expected to be available, and Dallas won the teams’ previous meeting by 16.
In short
- Dallas is tipped to cover a 3.5-point spread.
- Haliburton is out and McConnell is doubtful.
- The Mavericks have won their past two games comfortably.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The case for backing Dallas is that it has the better record, has been winning comfortably at home and already beat Indiana by 16 in their previous meeting. With Haliburton out and McConnell uncertain, the Pacers may lack the point-guard depth needed to handle Dallas’s offence, making a Dallas win by more than three points a reasonable prediction.
The case against
A cautious bettor could argue that recent results and one earlier meeting do not guarantee the same outcome, and a three-point margin leaves little room for an unexpectedly close game. McConnell may still play, while the preview offers no detail about how Indiana’s wider squad might compensate for Haliburton’s absence; Dallas’s wins have also all come at home, so its record may say less about its form away from Dallas.