Sports Betting – Dallas, Texas Teams Roundup
Dallas Mavericks (19-7, 1st in Southwest)
While no one paid much attention to the Dallas Mavericks in the sportsbook when they were leading the Southwest Division after November, they are finally starting to garner some national praise now that they are still in the lead in late December.
Even so, most pundits still believe that the San Antonio Spurs will win the division, the Mavericks have been doing their part so far by winning 19 of their first 26 games.
The Mavs have won five straight and won comfortably on Wednesday, something they haven’t done consistently this year. The Mavs have had some trouble holding on to big leads. A prime example was the 21-point first half lead against New Orleans on Monday that they let slip away. They eventually won by just four points.
The good news, though, is they are 8-1 this year in games decided by five points or less.
Dallas Stars (14-9-10, 4th in Pacific)
The Dallas Stars were road warriors in the first month of the season but now all of the sudden the magic is gone.
It took eight road games for the Stars to lose their first contest in regulation but recently, they’ve been doing a lot more losing away from home. Those who wager on sports have seen the Stars lose five of their last six games on the road.
There hasn’t been a significant change in philosophy or talent to spark the change, which makes them an enigma right now.
Dallas is struggling. They have notched points in five of their last six games but they only have two wins in their last seven games.
One culprit that can be blamed recently – just on Wednesday – is the penalty kill. Those gambling online should note that the Stars had killed off 42 of their last 44 prior to giving up two power play goals to Carolina en route to a 5-3 loss.
Texas Rangers (Offseason)
It was supposed to be a quiet offseason in Texas given the ownership conundrum but the Rangers were anything but that at winter meetings.
The Rangers shipped off Kevin Millwood and $3 million to the Baltimore Orioles for Chris Ray and Ben Snyder, then used the savings from the deal to sign Rich Harden to a one-year, $7.5 million contract.
Harden comes with the injury risks but he has the upside to be a No. 1 starter as he previous was in the West with the Oakland Athletics.
The simple sportsbook 101 shows that Millwood was just 62-63 in 125 starts with Texas while Harden was 43-24 over that same span.
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