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USATSI

On Sunday night, the Dallas Mavericks survived without Luka Doncic in the lineup and Kristaps Porzingis having a quiet night to get a big win. They look for more of the same on Monday night against the Charlotte Hornets, who have lost five of their last seven. Several role players stepped up to finish with their best games of the season in the Mavericks' last outing, but Charlotte has been the highest-scoring team in the NBA this year.

Dallas is favored by 2.5 points in the latest Mavericks vs. Hornets odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over-under is set at 216.5. Before entering any Hornets vs. Mavericks picks, you'll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks over the past three-plus seasons. The model enters Week 9 of the 2021-22 NBA season on a stunning 44-20 roll on all top-rated NBA picks, returning over $2,000. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Mavs vs. Hornets. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Hornets vs. Mavs:

  • Mavericks vs. Hornets spread: Mavericks -2.5
  • Mavericks vs. Hornets over-under: 216.5 points

What you need to know about the Mavericks

The Mavericks strolled past the Oklahoma City Thunder with points to spare on Sunday, taking the contest 103-84. Point guard Jalen Brunson (18 points) and power forward Maxi Kleber (16 points) were the top scorers for Dallas. Brunson has filled in for Doncic five times this season and has impressed every time. He's scored 15 points or more in each of those games, and he's averaged 7.2 assists in that sample. He'll have a chance to keep those trends going again tonight against a weak Charlotte defense with Doncic still out to nurse an ankle injury.

Kleber's performance was his best of the season, and he had only pushed into double-figures in the box score four other times this season. He was joined by Moses Brown, who also had a season-high 15 points off the bench. Brown has shot 68 percent from the field this season, but has averaged 3.7 points per game. As a team, Dallas has done well to keep its turnovers to a minimum, and averages just 12.2 per game. The Mavs aren't likely to give the ball away much to a Charlotte team that can be dangerous if it gets extra possessions.

What you need to know about the Hornets

Charlotte escaped with a win this past Friday against the Sacramento Kings by a single point, 124-123. Rookie shooting guard James Bouknight had the best performance of his young career, after he shot 6 for 8 from downtown and finished with 24 points and six boards. Kelly Oubre also continued his strong play this season with 22 points with six rebounds and five assists. He is within striking distance of his best career numbers, which he averaged while playing more than five more minutes per game in Phoenix during the 2019-20 season.

Dallas has allowed its opponents to make 36 percent of their 3-point attempts this season, which Charlotte should want to take advantage of early and often. The Hornets are the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA this year, and they drain over 38 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. Cody Martin only hit one against the Kings, but in his four games prior, he hit 9-of-15 from distance in an expanded role with others out due to health and safety protocols.

How to make Mavericks vs. Hornets picks

The model is leaning over on the total, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 60 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.

Who wins Mavericks vs. Hornets? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its NBA picks and find out.