Dallas Mavericks Odds to Make Playoffs: Mavericks Get In and Make Some Noise

Year 2 of the Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving experiment is going a little better than Year 1 which resulted in the Dallas Mavericks missing the playoffs for the first time since Doncic’s rookie season.

Despite some early season ups and downs, Doncic and Irving have found their rhythm, and the Mavericks will come out of the NBA All-Star break with a 32-23 record, sitting in seventh spot in the Western Conference standings but outsiders in the NBA Title odds. A strong second-half run could see them change the narrative. 

That has the Mavs’odds to make the playoffs looking pretty good at this point. So, let’s take a look back at the Mavericks' season so far to see if this play is sustainable and whether they can prove the NBA odds right by getting back to the playoffs. Or is there basketball betting value in Dallas to have another late-season collapse?

Dallas Mavericks odds to make playoffs

Odds courtesy FanDuel Sportsbooks on February 19, 2024

Dallas Mavericks season at a glance

The Dallas Mavericks came flying out of the gates this season, winning eight of their first 10 games and their offense was humming, averaging a whopping 126.3 points per game. 

However, Dallas was unable to maintain that level of play mostly thanks to a shaky defense which meant that the team went just 16-18 over their next 34 games. Then something magical happened. Luka Doncic took it to the next level.

The Mavs’ All-NBA guard put up an unfathomable 73 points in a 148-143 win over the Atlanta Hawks back on Jan. 26. Dallas has now won eight of the last 10 games that Doncic has played, including the last six in a row heading into the break. That has the Mavs in seventh place in the Western Conference standings but are only one game back of fifth.

Doncic has put up video game numbers over that stretch, averaging 36.4 points while shooting nearly 40% from 3-point range while averaging 10.5 rebounds, and 10 assists per game. Averaging a double-double over a 10-game stretch is pretty good.

Backcourt mate Kyrie Irving has also had a solid first half of the season. Irving is averaging 25.5 points while shooting 41.4% from beyond the arc and adding 5.5 assists and 5.2 boards per game.

The Doncic-Irving combo has Dallas ranked 11th in offensive rating so far this season. But is that enough to cover for a defense that ranks 19th in defensive rating and make the playoffs?

Will Dallas Mavericks make the playoffs?

With the No at +270, I was tempted to say the Mavericks don’t make the playoffs for a second straight season. But a few things are sticking out in my mind that say this won’t happen again.

Last season it was clear the Mavericks tanked down the stretch in order to miss the play-in tournament. I think it’s clear that won’t be the case this time around.

For starters, I think Luka and Kyrie have figured out the chemistry thing now that they’ve played basically a full season's worth of games together at this point. More importantly, it appears the Dallas front office doesn’t want to waste any more time with this combo of elite guards making some savvy moves to fill out the roster and support them.

The Mavericks traded for PJ Washington from the Charlotte Hornets and Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards, and all of a sudden, Dallas has a formidable starting lineup with Tim Hardaway Jr. doing his sixth-man thing off the bench.

The new-look Mavs have a great chance to grab a Top-6 seed and avoid the play-in altogether. If they do land in the 7-10 range, they will be the team with the fewest question marks among the field. Plus, they have Luka. And there aren’t too many players would prefer to have on your team in a win-or-go-home situation.

Best bet: Mavericks to make the playoffs (-320 at DraftKings)

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