Saturday’s NBA schedule on ABC closes out with the final game of NBA Rivals Week. The Los Angeles Lakers and Luka Doncic are in Dallas on Saturday night to take on his former team, the Mavericks. It should be a great way to close out the National TV coverage for the week, and there are plenty of storylines after last year’s blockbuster trade between these squads. Let’s dive into the matchup and pick out a few strong player prop bets to build around to wrap up the day. You can utilize these picks as stand-alone plays or group them in a Same Game Parlay (SGP), as indicated at the bottom of the post.
Overall, the Lakers are 3.5-point road favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the point total at 233.5.
This will be Luka’s second trip to Dallas since the trade, and his team comes in limping a little bit after losing six of their last nine games to slide to 26-17 with their loss to the Clippers on Thursday. The Mavericks are surging and have won four straight, scoring at least 114 points in each of their four wins and going 7-3 in their last 10 contests to improve to 19-26. The Mavs are currently No. 11 in the Western Conference, while the Lakers still sit at fifth. This will be the second matchup in the season series between these teams, after the Lakers won, 129-119, at the end of November. Lots has shifted for both teams since then, so let’s take a look at this juicy rematch with plenty of narratives to find a few strong player prop bets to back this Saturday night.
Lakers vs. Mavericks Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Marcus Smart over 9.5 points (-102)
Luka Doncic’s props are all inflated due to the narrative of him coming back to Dallas, so instead of chasing or fading him, we’ll just use other options available on the board. From the Lakers, I like the Smart points prop, since it’s about even money for him to get to double-digit points.
Smart has been a regular part of the Lakers’ starting five for the last 14 games, averaging about 30 minutes per game and producing 9.6 points per game. He has picked up more scoring lately, with double-digit points in five of his last six games. He’s taken at least nine shot attempts in four of his last five games, and the uptick in usage has results in an uptick in production.He missed the first matchup between these teams, but in his expanding role, Smart makes a good play Saturday night.
Max Christie over 17.5 Points + Assists (-116)
Christie was one of the players the Mavs got back in the Luka trade, and like Smart, he’s been getting more work lately. Christie has gone over this prop line in seven of his last 10 games, including each of his three games since returning from illness.
He had 22, 26 and 21 points in those three games, hitting at least three 3-pointers in each of those contests. While his 3PM prop is solid, he’s done a great job scoring and creating with at least two assists in each game as well. He’ll be taking on his former team, like Luka, but his props sit at a much more reasonable place, and getting this prop line feels like exceptional value for Saturday night.
Brandon Williams 15+ points (+120)
Williams has been in a volatile role, moving in and out of the starting lineup and sometimes not getting many minutes. However, when he has been on the floor, the 26-year-old Arizona alum has been very productive.
He has scored at least 15 points in six of his last eight games and is averaging 15.0 points in 22.0 minutes per game. His two down games were in a game he left early and a bad outing against the Knicks. He bounced back with 19 points in Thursday’s win over the Warriors, and he has a good chance of reaching this alternate point total if this game against the Lakers is high-scoring.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Jake LaRavia under 7.5 points (-112)
If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) for this Saturday contest, adding in the under on LaRavia’s points takes it to a very strong +1300, as you can see below. If you want to mix in picks from other games, you can also build a strong SGPx with these core plays.
With Luka doing most of the scoring, Smart surging, and Rui Hachimura back from injury, LaRavia is getting squeezed out a little bit. He has come in under this prop line in four straight games, and I think his scoring continues to trend down on Saturday.
