The Oklahoma City Thunder came crashing back to earth on Sunday as they absorbed a tough 137-125 loss to the Houston Rockets. In a showdown between the league’s two leading MVP candidates, it was Lou Williams instead who stole the show in this high-profile matchup. He scored 31 points off the bench to inflict the Thunder their second defeat in the last three games.
The Thunder will look to get their season back on track when they square off with the Dallas Mavericks tonight. For OKC to grab the all-important victory, it needs to improve on its play on the defensive end. The Thunder had difficulty stopping the sizzling Rockets who shot an incredible 63.3 percent from the field on Sunday. That’s Houston’s highest field goal percentage in a game since shooting 63.4 percent on January 24, 1995.
With regards to their offense, the Thunder are expected to ride the hot hand of Russell Westbrook. He boosted his MVP candidacy with yet another triple-double in the loss to the Rockets, finishing with 39 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds. That’s Westbrook’s second straight triple-double and his 36th of the season. Westbrook has been a beast for the Thunder this campaign, leading the team not only in scoring (31.2 PPG) but also in rebounds (10.5), assists (10.4) and steals (1.6) as well. He’s averaging 37.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in two meetings with the Mavs this season.
The Thunder are 2-8 SU and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games.
Dallas’ playoff hopes took a huge hit on Saturday as the Mavericks suffered a gut-wrenching 94-86 loss to the Toronto Raptors at American Airlines Center. With the loss, the Mavs fell 3.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trail Blazers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
With just 10 games remaining in Dallas’ league schedule, the Mavs will need to get their act together quickly if they are to reach the postseason for the 16th time in the last 17 years. That mission starts tonight when they host triple-double machine Russell Westbrook and the rest of the OKC Thunder. The Mavs will take comfort in the fact that they beat the Thunder at home 22 days ago. Dirk Nowitzki and Seth Curry starred for the Mavs in that contest, combining for 40 points on 18-of-33 shooting from the field.
For the Mavs to get another W tonight, they will need to get their outside shooting in order against the Thunder. They struggled mightily from beyond the arc in their recent loss to the Raptors, shooting just 7-of-28 from 3-point range. The Mavs were ice-cold right from the get-go as they missed 18 of their opening 22 attempts from deep. They can ill afford such a shooting display against OKC who’s 10th in the NBA in scoring this season.
The Mavs are 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 home games.
