This is a 10* on PORTLAND

Portland has just three wins in its last 14 games. But at least they’re at home where they started the year out on a 10-1 tear. With Thursday’s game vs. Brooklyn postponed, the Blazers have had five days off to prepare for Dallas tonight. The Mavericks turned in a game effort Christmas night vs. Utah, only losing by four as 13.5 point underdogs. But they continue to be very undermanned with Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr and three others in protocol. Portland is also without five players, but at least they’ve got Damian Lillard, who has averaged 38 points on 54.8% shooting (48.4% on threes) over his past three games. Like Portland, Dallas has been slipping of late, dropping four of its last five games. So we’ve got two struggling teams that will be short-handed Monday night. We side with the home team due to Lillard and the fact they are better rested. The Mavs’ only road win in the last 17 days came at Oklahoma City. Play on PORTLAND

AAA