Tip-off: Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET
Line: San Antonio -7.0

The Mavericks will be hoping to stop their losing streak at two when they host the Spurs on Friday.

The Spurs are coming off of a 110-97 win as 12.5-point home favorites against the Pelicans on Wednesday. San Antonio has now won three of its past four games and the team will now go for its third win this season over Dallas. The Spurs have won in each of their two meetings with the Mavericks, but Dallas did cover in one of those games. The Mavericks will now get to host the Spurs for the first time this season and they are 4-3 both SU and ATS when playing San Antonio at American Airlines Center over the past three seasons. Things have not looked good for the Mavericks recently though, as the team is coming off of back-to-back SU and ATS losses. Dallas has failed to shoot over 40% in each of the past three games and must find a way to get it going offensively on Friday. One trend that really sticks out when looking into this game is the fact that Rick Carlisle is 0-8 ATS versus top caliber teams –outscoring opponents by nine or more points per game- in the second half of the season with Dallas. SG Manu Ginobili (Groin) and PF Tim Duncan (Knee) are both out indefinitely for San Antonio and PGs Deron Williams (Hip) and Devin Harris (Toe) are doubtful for Dallas on Friday.

The Spurs have had to deal with a number of injuries in their starting lineup, but the team continues to find a way to win games. SF Kawhi Leonard (19.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.8 SPG) is going to have to play an even bigger role offensively with Ginobili out of the lineup. Leonard was excellent in San Antonio’s win over New Orleans, finishing with 26 points, five boards, two blocks and a steal. He should be able to find success against Dallas on Friday as well, as he’s averaging 20.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.0 APG and 2.0 SPG in two meetings with the Mavericks this season. PF LaMarcus Aldridge (16.6 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.0 BPG) will also need to play well for the Spurs with the team taking a hit offensively due to injuries. Aldridge has been hot lately, averaging 32.0 PPG and 4.0 BPG over the past two contests. He is 21-for-33 from the field in those games and will need to continue to be aggressive for San Antonio. He has a major advantage in strength over the Mavericks’ forwards and should be able to get it going around the basket on Friday.

The Mavericks have lost two straight games and things won’t be getting any easier with the Spurs in town on Friday. If Dallas is going to win this game then PF Dirk Nowitzki (17.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG) is going to need to find a way to outplay LaMarcus Aldridge. Nowitzki looked like his old self on Wednesday against Miami, finishing with 28 points, four boards and three blocks in 35 minutes of action. He was 10-for-21 from the field and 2-for-2 from the outside in that game and it would really help the Mavericks if he can find that type of efficiency on Friday. He will, however, need to be ready to come through on the defensive end as well. Aldridge is a lot bigger than him, so Nowitzki will need to fight hard and do his best to keep the Spurs forward from catching the ball with two feet in the paint. Another guy that will need to really play well on both ends of the floor in this game is SF Chandler Parsons (12.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.4 APG). Parsons has looked like he is completely recovered from his offseason knee surgery in recent weeks. He’s averaging 17.6 PPG and 7.4 RPG over the past five games and is providing a major offensive spark for this Mavericks team. This will be a tough game for Parsons though, and he’ll need to hold his own on both ends of the floor in his matchup with Kawhi Leonard. Leonard is the best defender in basketball and if Parsons can’t find a way to score then it’ll be hard for Dallas to put up enough points to defeat San Antonio.