Luka vs. Tatum as the Celtics visit Dallas Thursday - Preview, Pick & Props

Thursday features a four-game NBA slate highlighted by two of the top MVP candidates going head-to-head as the Celtics visit the Mavericks for a nationally televised contest that should be must-watch TV. 

The Mavericks have rattled off seven straight wins behind the magic of Luka Doncic and they’ll be home dogs against the Celtics tonight, despite the fact the Celtics have lost two straight games, the last an ugly blowout in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. Luka Magic has been out of his mind for a while now and has propelled the Mavericks into the No. 4 seed in the West, just 2.5 games behind the first-place Nuggets. Dallas is 15-5 at home and the Celtics, who will come in limping after the brutal OKC loss and an earlier loss at Denver, are 11-7 on the road. Luka is averaging 44.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 2.2 steals, 0.7 blocks and 3.5 3-pointers over his last six games that include two 50-point games and a 60-point, 21-rebound triple-double effort against the Knicks last week. They’re not blowing teams out, as only two of their seven straight wins were by a margin of more than six points, and the other two were a nine- and 15-point win. Christian Wood is helping immensely right now and averaged 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.6 blocks and 2.3 3-pointers in December, and kicked January off with a 21-point, seven-rebound, four-assist, one-steal, five-block, three 3-pointer performance against the Rockets on Monday. Outside of those two, the Mavericks are just getting help wherever they can find it. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 on Monday with five triples and has hit double figures in scoring in five straight games. The Mavs are healthy outside of their normal injured crew as Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Green and Maxi Kleber will be out again tonight. 

The Celtics feature the top-scoring duo in the league in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and also usually get solid contributions from Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Al Horford, Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams, who was out Monday for knee injury maintenance. As of Wednesday night, the Boston injury report is clean other than Danilo Gallinari (knee), who is out indefinitely. The Celtics are just 4-5 over their last nine games with four straight wins against the Wolves, Bucks, Rockets and Clippers, and losses to the Magic (twice), Pacers, Nuggets and Thunder. Their last two losses both came on the road and they didn’t look particularly good in either game. 

With Doncic (+280 FanDuel) sitting atop the MVP leaderboard and Tatum right behind him at (+350 DraftKings), these two guys should be ready to put on a show. And given the Celtics’ late struggles and how hot Luka is, Doncic could be looking to hang 60 or 70 points on Boston tonight. Friend of the site Nick Abisi is predicting Luka will flirt with 100 tonight, but I’m not going there just yet. The Oddscrowd algorithm gives a 2.1% +EV Edge to the Celtics -2 (-110) but I’m feeling Luka and the hot Mavericks at home over the suddenly reeling Celtics. But regardless of who wins this game, DVRs should be set in case Luka and/or Tatum do something crazy tonight.

Pick: Mavericks +2.5

Prop 1: Luka Doncic to score 40+ points +210 at FanDuel

Prop 2: Christian Wood over 27.5 total Points & Rebounds -115 at FanDuel

Prop 3: Jayson Tatum over 37.5 total Points & Rebounds -113 at FanDuel