Dallas Mavericks @ LA Lakers TNT Thursday Night NBA Pick

Dallas Mavericks @ LA Lakers TNT Thursday Night NBA Pick: Little separates the Dallas Mavericks and the LA Lakers, at least in terms of record. The Mavericks took care of business on Wednesday Night, beating the Clippers and sailing into their game against the Lakers just a half game back of LA for the 2nd best record in the West. I mentioned in my newsletter that a #2 seed is on the line between these two, but I had forgotten about the NBA’s rule giving the top 3 seeds to the 3 division winners in each conference. That means LA has one of those spots locked up, and unless the Mavericks can catch the Spurs (unlikely), Dallas will end up out of the Top 3 for sure. Kind of a bummer if you’re Dallas. But the 2nd best record in the league wouldn’t be all for not, they’d have home court advantage against everyone besides San Antonio.

If the playoffs started today, the Spurs would be #1, LA #2, Oklahoma #3, and Dallas #4. 5-8 would be Denver, New Orleans, Portland, and Memphis. LA would play Portland (which has been tough for them for quite some time now) and Dallas would draw a Denver team playing as well as anyone down the stretch. It could get wild.

Still, Dallas and LA have as good a chance as anyone to play for the Western Conference Finals, and home court would mean a ton to whomever wins it. This game could mean a lot in that regard.

For this game, I think a rested Lakers squad is a better bet than a tired Mavericks team. Dallas played to the finish last night against the Clippers, winning by 6, and I think that makes Thursday tough on them. I’ll take the Lakers to win and cover.

Dallas Mavericks @ LA Lakers (-6) (TNT) (3/31)