Mavericks vs. 76ers predictions: Bet these three player props Wednesday

Defense was a dirty word when the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks hooked up on March 2 in the heart of Texas.

Nine different players — five Sixers, four Mavericks — scored in double figures in a 133-126 Dallas victory.

Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey had monster games for Philadelphia, combining for 91 points, 14 rebounds and 16 assists. But Mavericks stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving stole the show, tallying 42 and 40 points, respectively. Doncic and Irving — who also combined for eight rebounds and 18 assists — became the first players in Dallas history to post 40-plus points in the same game.

So what should we expect for an encore Wednesday when the 76ers return home from a four-game road trip and welcome the Mavs to Wells Fargo Center?

Another high-scoring affair, if you believe the oddsmakers. And, if you believe us, another big night three of the stars who are slated to be on the hardwood.

Odds updated as of 1:25 p.m. ET on March 29.

Things haven’t exactly gone as expected for the Mavericks since acquiring Irving from Brooklyn at the trade deadline — and that’s a big-time understatement.

Dallas made the deal Feb. 6 and promptly won three straight games (two with Irving in the lineup). Since then, the Mavs are 6-13 and have fallen completely out of the playoff picture. Yes, including the play-in tournament.

In the 16 games in which he’s suited up for the Mavs, Irving has averaged 26.3 points. So based on that alone, this number looks short. Then you look at the mercurial point guard’s game logs and see he’s tallied 18, 18 and 16 points in the last three.

It’s the second time since arriving in Dallas that Irving has gone three straight games without scoring at least 25 points.

Number of times he’s had fewer than 25 points in four straight games with the Mavericks? Zero. Number of times in his 40 games with Brooklyn this season? Zero.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to the end of the 2018-19 regular season for the last time Irving finished with fewer than 25 points in four consecutive games — we’re talking a total of 236 regular-season and postseason contests.

Irving’s point totals in three games versus the 76ers this season: 23, 30 and 40.

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Doncic may have faded from the NBA MVP conversation, but the 6-foot-7 point guard is still having a sensational fifth season in Dallas.

In addition to ranking second in the league in scoring at 32.9 points per game — right behind Embiid (33.3) — Doncic is netting 8.6 rebounds and 8.1 assists per contest. The latter two stats are right on par with his career averages.

Doncic also has produced a double-double in more than half (33) of his 61 games. The 24-year-old Slovanian didn’t get one in Monday’s 127-104 victory in Indiana, but that’s because he only played 28 minutes (and he still collected 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists).

Going back to March 3, Doncic has played in eight games. He was on the court for at least 34 minutes in six of those contests and recorded a double-double in five.

With Doncic playing limited minutes against the Pacers and the Mavericks having Tuesday off, he should be good for 35-plus minutes in Philadelphia on Monday.

And given how poor the Sixers’ defense has been during the last three games of their road trip — 120, 125 and 116 points allowed — Donic should have plenty of opportunities to rack up a lot of points and at least 10 rebounds or assists.

In fact, one opponent — Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond, Golden State’s Draymond Green, Phoenix’s Bismack Biyombo and Denver’s Nikola Jokic — has had a double-double against Philadelphia in each of its last five contests.

Bet on Doncic making it six in a row.

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At the time of publication, Embiid was listed as questionable on Philadelphia’s injury report with an ailing right calf.

The 7-foot center, who has been dealing with right league issues all season, sat out Monday’s 116-111 loss at Denver. However, Embiid hasn’t missed consecutive games since sitting out three in a row from January 4-8.

So we’ll be surprised if the NBA MVP candidate doesn’t suit up Wednesday night. FanDuel apparently feels the same, as they’ve posted props for the 76ers’ big man in this contest.

If Embiid does play, he shouldn’t have much trouble dominating the defensively challenged Mavericks again. In the first meeting, Embiid went for 35 points and eight rebounds — so in fact, he fell a tick short of this prop number.

He also came up short two nights later in Milwaukee (31 points, 10 boards). In 11 games since, though, Embiid has cleared 45 combined points and rebounds seven times.

During this 11-game stretch, Embiid hasn’t once gone consecutive contests without at least 45 points/rebounds. That’s noteworthy because the All-Star had “just” 28 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday’s ugly loss at Phoenix (while playing just over 32 minutes).

If Embiid goes tonight, he should log 35-plus minutes and have plenty of chances to fill the stat sheet — which you know he wants to do to impress MVP voters.

And if Embiid gets scratched again? This wager would be refunded.

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