NBA 2021/22 on Thursday, 03.02.2022
In the night from Wednesday to Thursday the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder will take place in the NBA – certainly not a top game, but in my eyes there is an even better betting opportunity.
As I will work out in my Mavericks Thunder tip, luck seems to be in favour of the home side. The visitors, meanwhile, may have a little “LeBron James” on their hands, but as a team they just aren’t functioning properly at the moment!
The home side simply couldn’t miss out on our NBA picks today. Because I think a win over OKC is very likely for two reasons. Firstly, the Thunder are the perfect opponent to celebrate a landslide victory.
But let’s proceed in order: The Mavericks have changed their “identity” in the very first year under head coach Jason Kidd. The defence used to be the Mavs’ problem child, but it has now found its place among the league’s best.
In the NBA rankings, the defence is even listed at No. 5, while the offence, meanwhile, is only ranked at No. 19. The Texans are now looking to improve their scoring output as well by looking to sign another shot creator before the trade deadline.
This could make the Mavs play an even better role in the future! But even so, the ambitious Texans are already on a playoff course! The Mavericks have had an outstanding January, winning 12 of 16 games.
In contrast, the Thunder have a devastating record of 3-12 in the same period. Most recently, OKC even lost seven NBA games in a row before finally ending this negative streak with yesterday’s win over Portland.
However, Oklahoma is not spared from injuries: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s best scorer, recently suffered an ankle injury that will keep him off the floor at least until the All-Star Break.
All this makes the starting position for the guests bad enough, but now we come to practice – and it looks just as bleak. There have already been three duels this season, all of which went to the Mavs.
The Mavericks celebrated two of these victories in the past month alone. These were a 95:86 and a razor-thin 104:102 in favour of the Texans. However, the Thunder should be able to offer much less resistance this time around.
In the already mentioned 104-102 victory of the Mavericks a fortnight ago, a certain Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was still in the starting line-up at OKC, who even advanced to the “Man of the Match” that night with 34 points.
As we have learned, however, he is now out, which means that the entire offensive momentum of a team that is already not well-positioned in terms of breadth has come to a standstill. Oklahoma does have some useful talent, but as a collective they just don’t have it at the moment.
One example of a Thunder diamond in the rough is Josh Giddey. The 19-year-old Australian has already collected 511 points, 334 rebounds and 268 assists. He is also the youngest player since LeBron James with a record of 500/200/200 in his first 45 games!
Even with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC would only have been considered underdogs in this duel, but without their superstar, the visitors are now a much bigger underdog in the eyes of the German bookmakers!
A win for the Mavs is therefore traded at odds of around 1.14, while a small sensational win for the visitors leads to payouts of around 6.00.
