- Oklahoma City Thunder (12-6, 3rd in the West) @ Dallas Mavericks (11-7, 4th in the West)
- When – Saturday, 02 December 2023 at 8:00pm CST
- Where – American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
- Offensive Rating – DAL: 117.5 (5th) / OKC: 117.6 (4th)
- Defensive Rating – DAL: 117.0 (23rd) / OKC: 109.1 (5th)
- Net Rating – DAL: 0.5 (17th) / OKC: 8.5 (2nd)
The Set-Up
The I-35 rivalry. The rivalry that is created because of location. Because of distance. But, luckily, for us fans, this rivalry has usually been a good one. The KD game-winner in the playoffs. Dirk completely decimating the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals on his way to his only championship. The various playoff match-ups. The Lu Dort defense on Luka. The Isaiah Joe game.
Luckily for all of us, there appears to be another rivalry budding with this current iteration. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have given the Mavs two superstar players that have performed at the top of their profession in every scenario possible in their careers. Luka finally has a collection of players around him that seem to complement his style of play. But Lu Dort awaits….
And Isaiah Joe.
Season Series: This is the first of four meetings between the Mavericks and Thunder this season
Betting Info
- Line: OKC -4.5
- Spread: O/U 235.5
Injury Report
OKC
- None
DAL
- Dante Exum (personal) – OUT
- Josh Green (elbow) – Day to Day
- Tim Hardaway Jr (back) – Day to Day
- Kyrie Irving (foot) – Day to Day
- Maxi Kleber (toe) – OUT
Three Big Things
- Luka Doncic – Luka is having another amazing season. Of the 5 players in the league that are averaging over 30 points per game, Luka and SGA are two of them. In games past, though, Luka has struggled with efficiency when playing against the Thunder. A lot of that can be attributed to Lu Dort’s defense. Doncic’s physical style suits Dort’s defense more than a fast, twitchy offensive player.
- Rebounding Battle – Neither of these two teams are good at rebounding, with both being at or near the bottom of most rebounding categories. But the Thunder has shown improvement and effort in the rebounding department over the past week or so. It has allowed them to blow some teams out that were also near the bottom of those statistics with them.
- Chet – For some reason, I feel like this is a game where Chet can dominate. Not just in the scoring department, but also in all the things big men are supposed to do well (rebounding, interior defense, etc). The Mavs will be trotting out rookie Derrick Lively and Dwight Powell. Lively has been a lot better than I expected this season. And Powell is a good, aging veteran. It just feels like Chet will dominate over these two tonight.