The Dallas Mavericks have been playing some better basketball of late, and, well, they couldn't really help it after the horrific start they got off to. In fact, they really aren't out of the playoff hunt in the Western Conference, so it is obviously not time to pack it in. On Tuesday night, they will play host to the Washington Wizards in a game that will begin at 8:35 PM ET at the American Airlines Center. BetAnySports customers can get reduced juice against the basketball betting odds before the game, and after the opening tip, they can continue with their action as they take advantage of all that is available through Live Betting Ultra.

The Mavericks currently have a 10-24 record, and they are just coming off a loss in Oakland to the Golden State Warriors, where they covered as an underdog getting 17.5 points. However, they will be going into this game without their point guard. Deron Williams, who has been in and out of the lineup, is expected to miss this game because of an illness, and some of the reports we have seen have alluded to the possibility that this illness may have spread. Because of the fact that JJ Berea, who has an Achilles injury, is already missing from the Dallas rotation, this leaves them rather short-handed, and that is always a problem when dealing with the Washington backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal.

Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki is back in action for the Mavericks, and he is gradually getting more minutes. Plus, this team has had two days off, while the Wizards, who have won only three of their 14 road games, played last night in Houston, where they lost by 10 points to the Rockets, scoring just 38 points in the second half.

In the basketball betting odds that have been posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, Washington is the slight road favorite:

Washington Wizards -1
Dallas Mavericks +1

Over 200.5 points -110
Under 200.5 points -110

Nowitzki has not had his minutes restriction completely removed, but he did go for 23 minutes against Golden State three nights ago, scoring 11 points with five rebounds, and he hit three of his five attempts from three-point range. The Mavericks will miss Williams, and even though he might be a step slower these days defensively, Dallas needs all the help it can get against the lightning-quick Wall and the sharp-shooting Beal.

Wall had 18 points last night against the Rockets, but Beal, who had to sit out the previous game against the Brooklyn Nets with an ankle sprain, came up with 27 points. We understand that there may be some trepidation on the part of coach Scott Brooks about using Beal in the second game of the back-to-back situation, but that point total would seem to indicate that he could go full-tilt. Dallas will be using Devin Harris and Seth Curry in order to make up for the absence of Williams.

Washington's problem is that it can't play four quarters of basketball when in the visiting uniform. They were up by 12 points at the half against Houston, but eventually wilted, as James Harden came up with another triple-double. Washington, which has won seven of its last ten games and is in a logjam at the end of the East playoff queue, has played six times in "back-to-back" situations this season, and five of those games have gone over the total. Dallas has allowed the opposition to shoot at least 50% from the field and nine of its last 15 games. That would seem to point us toward the "over," inasmuch as this is a reasonable number.

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