Cleveland Cavaliers vs Dallas Mavericks Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/13/26

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With 2 losses in 3 games, the Cavaliers have slowed down a bit, but luckily for them their next 5 opponents are all teams with losing records — so bouncing back should be easy. First up, they have a back-and-forth with the Dallas Mavericks, with the first game taking place in Texas on Friday night. This has been a matchup dominated by the Cavs over the past 3 years, as they swept the regular season series in each of those 3 seasons. The last 2 meetings were decided by 43 and 12 points, while Cleveland has been able to cover the spread consistently in games played in Dallas — doing so 4 times in 5 visits. Jarrett Allen and Max Struss are the only notable injury absentees here, whether or not that has an impact on this game remains to be seen.

The Mavs just ended an 8-game losing streak last night by beating the Memphis Grizzlies on the road. It was only their 3rd win since January 24th, accompanied by 18 losses. Cooper Flagg’s play since the injury has put his Rookie of the Year campaign in jeopardy, as he’s averaging just 16.3 points on pedestrian efficiency numbers (34% from the field and 25% from three). With this being a 2nd night of a back-to-back, I wouldn’t be surprised if Flagg was kept out of this game. In these back-to-back spots, the Mavericks are just 5-6 SU in 11 games this season.

This is Cleveland’s game to lose. Allen not playing hurts them a bit in the rebounding department, but with a healthy Donovan Mitchell and a motivated James Harden, they should be able to put up enough points to cover here. Dallas has lost 3 in a row when playing with no rest, with 2 of those losses being by 20 and 19 points. Go with the Cavs here.

Cavaliers vs Mavericks Predictions: Cleveland Cavaliers -13 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.