The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to head into the All-Star break on a high note, as they are favored at home against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.<\/p>\n
L.A. is 2-0 against Dallas this season and has won four in a row in this now-rivalry matchup thanks to the Luka Doncic trade. After back-to-back losses against the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, L.A. is teetering on the play-in tournament line in the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the Lakers will have LeBron James and Austin Reaves in action on Thursday after they both missed Tuesday\u2019s loss to the Spurs. Despite that, Doncic (hamstring) has been ruled out for the fourth game in a row, although he is attempting to suit up for the All-Star Game this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dallas is on the outside of the play-in picture in the Western Conference, and it doesn\u2019t have a ton of great pieces around Cooper Flagg at the moment. To make matters worse, Flagg (foot) will not play in this game due to a midfoot sprain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Mavs may be better off finishing with a bad record this season to secure a higher pick in a loaded 2026 NBA Draft. But, they may already have too many wins to truly get into the mix for the top odds in the lottery.<\/p>\n
With L.A. favored in this matchup, how should we bet on it?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a breakdown of the odds, my favorite player prop and a prediction for Thursday\u2019s third and final game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mavericks vs. Lakers Odds, Spread and Total<\/p>\n
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a><\/p>\n Spread<\/p>\n Mavs +7.5 (-112)Lakers -7.5 (-108)<\/p>\n Moneyline<\/p>\n Total\u00a0<\/p>\n 235.5 (Over -115\/Under -105)Mavericks vs. Lakers How to WatchDate: Thursday, Feb. 12Time: 10:00 p.m. ESTVenue: Crypto.com ArenaHow to Watch (TV): Prime VideoMavs record: 19-34Lakers record: 32-21Mavericks vs. Lakers Injury ReportsMavs Injury ReportCooper Flagg \u2013 outKyrie Irving \u2013 outDereck Lively II \u2013 outMoussa Cisse \u2013 doubtfulMiles Kelly \u2013 doubtfulRyan Nembhard \u2013 doubtful\u00a0Naji Marshall \u2013 questionableCaleb Martin \u2013 questionable\u00a0Lakers Injury ReportLuka Doncic \u2013 outDeandre Ayton \u2013 questionableMavericks vs. Lakers Best NBA Prop BetsLakers Best NBA Prop BetLeBron James OVER 14.5 Rebounds and Assists (-112)<\/p>\n Earlier today, I shared in my NBA Best Bets column \u2013 Peter\u2019s Points<\/a> \u2013 why James is a great prop target against Dallas:\u00a0<\/p>\n Since Doncic exited the Lakers\u2019 win over the Philadelphia 76ers early (he played less than 16 minutes in that game), James has taken on a much bigger role as a playmaker.<\/p>\n In three straight games (including the Philly matchup), he has recorded 10 assists, adding four, seven and six boards to his name in those games. Now, he takes on a Dallas team that ranks 28th in the NBA in opponent rebounds per game and 21st in opponent assists per game.<\/p>\n James is averaging 9.4 rebound chances and 11.9 potential assists per game this season, which gives him a pretty solid floor when it comes to this combo prop. On top of that, the Lakers could be without one of their top rebounders in center Deandre Ayton, as he\u2019s listed as questionable for this matchup.\u00a0<\/p>\n While LeBron is averaging just 5.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game this season, he did put up eight boards and five dimes with Doncic in the lineup the last time these teams squared off.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Austin Reaves (calf) still on a minutes restriction, I wouldn\u2019t be shocked if James paces the Lakers in assists on Thursday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mavericks vs. Lakers Prediction and Pick<\/p>\n With just three games on Thursday, Mavs-Lakers become a focus of today\u2019s Peter\u2019s Points<\/a>, as I\u2019m also backing L.A. to cover:\u00a0<\/p>\n Doncic may be out for the Lakers on Thursday night, but I think they\u2019re in a great place to win big over the Cooper Flagg-less Mavericks.<\/p>\n Dallas has been one of the worst road teams in the NBA this season, going 5-17 straight up and 6-10 against the spread when set as a road underdog. On top of that, the Mavericks have lost eight games in a row heading into this matchup.<\/p>\n The Lakers, on the other hand, have gone 11-5 against the spread when favored at home, and they have a lot more to play for in the Western Conference playoff picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas is 2-2 in the games that Flagg has missed this season, but it has a road net rating of just -5.4. That isn\u2019t going to cut it when the Lakers have both James and Reaves healthy and ready to go ahead of the All-Star break.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll lay the points with the Lakers, who already have a 10-point home win against Dallas under their belt in the 2025-26 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pick: Lakers -7.5 (-108 at DraftKings)<\/a><\/p>\n Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.<\/p>\n If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n Find Peter Dewey’s\u00a0NBA betting record here<\/a>\u00a0(futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on \u00a0BetStamp here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Claim the latest\u00a0DraftKings promo code<\/a>\u00a0offer today. Sign up and win your first $5 bet to get\u00a0$300 in bonus bets instantly.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to head into the All-Star break on a high note, as they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-470610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}