The Oklahoma City Thunder travel to Dallas later tonight to face Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks for the fourth and final time this regular season. While the Thunder have beaten Dallas in all three matchups this campaign, they’re entering tonight’s ball game on a two-game losing skid. Will they be able to sweep Dallas? Or will the Mavs deal OKC’s third-straight loss?
Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our breakdown of the Spurs vs. Kings.
Coming off their worst loss of the season, the Thunder sure would love to get their mojo back. Oklahoma City suffered its second-straight defeat on Sunday at the hands of Cleveland, 115-92.
Hopefully for the Thunder, a matchup against frequent victim Dallas is just what the doctor ordered. The Thunder are 3-0 and 1-2 ATS in three games against Dallas this season.
The Thunder’s offense has conspicuously been not up to snuff over their last two games, wherein they averaged just 95.0 points. What hasn’t changed for the Thunder though is Kevin Durant’s high scoring ways, as the former MVP has averaged 25.8 points in four games post All-Star break.
He’s certainly a lock to have another big game later tonight in Dallas, considering that he’s put up an average of 26.5 points on 54.3 percent shooting in three meetings this season with the Mavericks. Durant posted 24 points and seven assists in the Thunder’s 109-106 win against Dallas on January 22.
Also watch out for the Thunder’s three-point shooters to hoist a lot of outside shots. Oklahoma City is 32-for-85 from beyond the arc against Dallas this season.
There’s nothing quite like a game against the Sixers to bring a struggling team’s morale back up. On the verge of losing three-straight games for the second time this month, the Mavericks snapped their two-game skid by defeating Philadelphia on Sunday, 129-103.
Wesley Matthews also benefited from a matchup with the bottom-feeding Sixers, as the swingman bounced back from a five-point effort in a 110-104 loss to Orlando on Friday by dropping 21 points on Philly. Matthews will have to sustain that form later tonight against Oklahoma City. In fact, the Mavericks need all hands on deck to keep up with Kevin Durant and the high-scoring Thunder.
That’s the message head coach Rick Carlisle is hoping his entire team gets.
Dallas has scored well in previous matchups with the Thunder, averaging 103.0 points on 46.0 percent shooting in three meetings this season. The problem has been their defense that has allowed OKC to score 111.3 points.
Dallas will have to limit Oklahoma City’s inside scoring, as the Thunder scored 52 points in the paint in the aforementioned January matchup. Dallas, however, appears to have addressed that issue at least during its last three games, wherein the Mavs allowed just 40.8 PITP.
Dallas, which allows 101.8 points per game this season, is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 home games.
