Dallas Mavericks vs Miami Heat: Irving’s Scoring Will Be Critical to Dallas’ Success

• The Mavericks lost their last game and fell out of Play-In position
• The Heat are on a three-game losing streak
• Dallas defeated Miami in their previous match, 90-115

The Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat are closing the season in poor form and are trying to scrape for some last-minute improvements. The Mavericks have fallen to 11th in the West, with a 37-40 overall record and a 14-24 road record. The Heat dropped out of the top six and are now seventh in the East, owning a 40-37 overall record and a 25-14 home record.

Saturday night will feature the season's second and last meeting between the Heat and Mavericks. Hosted at Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida, the Heat will have home court advantage! The last time these teams met, the Mavericks defeated the Heat 90-115 behind a 34-point Luka Doncic effort.

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Head-to-Head: Dallas Mavericks vs Miami Heat

Injury Report

Miami Heat to Defeat Dallas Mavericks

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The Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat have hit a rough patch to close the season as both try to improve their position in the Western Conference standings. The Dallas Mavericks have fallen out of Play-In Tournament position while dropping seven of their last ten games. The Miami Heat are seventh in the Eastern Conference, falling out of the top six after going 5-5 over their last ten games.

The Mavericks live and die by the three-point shot, scoring 113.8 points per game (16th in the NBA) while hitting 15.2 three-pointers (3rd in the NBA) on 37.2% efficiency (8th in the NBA). Dallas' defense has fallen since acquiring Kyrie Irving, allowing 116.5 points per game on 49.4% shooting from the field.

The Miami Heat will try to control the game through their defense, which holds teams to 109.8 points per game (2nd in the NBA) on just 83.4 field goal attempts (3rd in the NBA) while forcing 15.7 turnovers per contest (3rd in the NBA). While their defense has been decent, the Heat offense has failed them by averaging just 94.7 points on 43.9% from the field and 34.3% from three-point range through their three-game losing streak.

While an all-out scoring battle would favor the Mavericks, the Heat have been tremendous defensively on their home court. We're taking Miami to win this matchup, as the Mavericks' supporting cast needs to do more to support their star contributors.

Key Players & Stats

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Dallas Mavericks star man Kyrie Irving has been getting his numbers since leaving the Brooklyn Nets in February, but his team hasn't been successful. Irving is averaging 26.1 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.2 rebounds on 49.8% from the field and 39.1% from three in 17 games as a Maverick. Against a defensive team like the Heat, Irving's scoring will be critical to Dallas' success.

The Miami Heat brought in Kevin Love to be another threatening shooter around the offensive ability of Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro, but it has yet to work out. If the Heat want any chance at winning, Love needs to be efficient and productive on the offensive end. Over his last five games, Love has posted just 6.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 34.4% from the field and 29.2% from three.

How to Watch Dallas Mavericks vs Miami Heat

• Where: Miami-Dade Arena, Miami, FL
• When: 7:30 PM EST, Saturday, April 1, 2023
• How to Watch: NBA TV
• Streaming: NBA League Pass