Dallas Mavericks vs Washington Wizards Prediction: Mavs look pale, the Wizards are below-average

The NBA midseason has already brought a trade as Rui Hachimura got traded for Kendrick Nunn. Rui Hachimura is still a player who is adjusting to the league and was the number nine pick back in 2019. Hachimura began his career with the Washington Wizards but will now play for the Los Angeles Lakers. Kendrick Nunn is going to begin a new chapter with the Wizards and they will play the Dallas Mavericks here.

The Wizards enter the picture after defeating the Orlando Magic 130:118 as Rui Hachimura(now traded to the Lakers) dropped 30 points. This was the second win in a row for Washington. They have won nine of their last fifteen games, but due to just 20 losses and 11 wins start, they have 20 wins and are still six games below the 50% win mark. Kyle Kuzma is having a career year and he has outscored Bradley Beal during most of the games lately. Kristaps Porzingis has given his usual dependable production but overall, the Wizards remain one of the most underwhelming units despite having three 20+ points scorers. 

The Mavericks come into this game after losing 98:112 against the LA Clippers despite a 29 points performance by Luka Doncic. The Mavericks have now lost seven of their last ten games and have lost three of their last five home games. Because of that, they are now at 25 wins and 23 losses, which is an underwhelming return for a team that reached the Conference Finals last season. Doncic is having an MVP-styled season but at this point, Nikola Jokic seems to be running with it. The difference between Jokic’s Nuggets and Doncic’s Mavs is that the latter are dependent too much upon Doncic whereas Jokic need not be the highest-scorer every night.

The Mavs have been struggling even at home, which is surprising considering how well Doncic has played. Meanwhile, the Wizards despite their improved play don’t showcase the required consistency for the most part. In terms of scoring range, this is difficult to predict considering how inconsistent these teams are on both ends. Anyway, rolling a dice here, I predict a scoreline of 120:113 in favor of the Mavericks.