T.M. Selection: Dallas Mavericks.

I like the Dallas Mavericks to cover the spread against the Phoenix Suns in this game on Monday. The Mavericks have looked really good in their games lately and they were great in their previous series. They eliminated the Jazz in 6 games and they only lost 1/5 of their previous 5 games after dropping the 1st game on their home court. They won 4/5 of their previous 5 games and 2 of those wins were in road games too. They have turned it up a notch with their defensive play in their 2 most recent games, holding the Jazz to less than 100 points in both of their previous 2 games. They haven't been winning their games with offense and I think they will play with a high intensity on defense in this game to set the tone for the series. The Mavericks need to steal at least 1 road game in this series to win it and I think they can come in here game 1 and catch the Suns by surprise with a gritty and defensive game. The Suns just beat the Pelicans in 6 games in their previous series but they didn't look that great in that series. They had a much weaker opposing team to play than the Mavericks had and the Suns still struggled against them. That series could have ended very differently if Booker didn't make his return in their most recent game but I think they are going to have a more difficult time trying to score on the Mavericks in this series. The Suns play good defense in their games too but I think the Mavericks can at least keep this game close if they don't win and with how good the defenses have looked on both teams, I think it will probably be a closer game the entire time. I think the Mavericks can win this game outright but I like them to cover the spread in this game.

T.M. Prediction: 106-102 Mavericks.