Philadelphia 76ers vs Dallas Mavericks Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 01/01/26

Tyrese Maxey heads back home to Dallas as he looks to lead his 76ers to another win over his hometown Mavericks. Philly dominated the first meeting winning by 7, behind Maxey’s 38 points. Nothing too drastic has happened since that game played 10 days ago, the Sixers will be encouraged here after getting a 34 and 10 performance from Joel Embiid in the OT win at Memphis the other day. Taking care of the ball has been the key for the Sixers this season, they rank 3rd best in turnover percentage over the past 10 games and if they can limit those they’ll be in good shape here.

Dallas got a productive game from Anthony Davis in that first meeting, as he finished with 24 and 15 rebounds. However, Thursday night might see them have to rely on others as AD is still out injured. The defense has really suffered without his presence down low, Dallas has dropped 3 games in a row and 4 of their last 5 games against not-so-elite opponents. Copper Flagg is leading the charge, but relying on a rookie to take you to the promise land isn’t exactly something that can work in the long run in today’s NBA. From a bettors’ perspective the Mavs are an unreliable 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games, they’ve lost 7 of 10 meetings against Philadelphia.

I have the Sixers sweeping the regular season series here. Maxey is on fire and he’s going to show up playing in front of his friends and family in Dallas. There could even be a Joel Embiid sighting here, he should be able to assert himself down low with the Mavs lacking a couple of quality big me. Take Philadelphia.

Philadelphia 76ers vs Dallas Mavericks Predictions: 76ers -1.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.