Tag Archives: Andrew Nembhard

Dallas Mavericks vs. Thunder preview (Game 23 of 82)

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  • Dallas Mavericks (8-15, 12th in the West) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (21-1, 1st in the West)
  • When: Friday, 05 December 2025 at 8:30pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: Prime Video
  • Offensive Rating: DAL: 107.6 (30th) / OKC: 119.0 (5th)
  • Defensive Rating: DAL: 111.3 (4th) / OKC: 103.8 (1st)
  • Net Rating: DAL: -3.8 (22nd) / OKC: 15.1 (1st)
  • Streaks: DAL: 3 W’s in a row, 5-5 in last 10 / OKC: 13 W’s in a row

The Set-Up

The decision for when to start a rebuild has to be an extremely difficult one for an organization. Sometimes, it’s self-inflicted. Sometimes, it’s thrust upon you unexpectedly. But it’s a decision fraught with potholes, pitfalls, and doubt. A decision that can set your franchise back years, possibly decades. And, yet, for most every team, it’s a decision that needs to be made once every 10-15 years. For Oklahoma City, the team knew they needed a refresh after the departure of Kevin Durant and the subsequent first round exits of the Russell Westbrook/Paul George-led teams. But that weird transitional season was also needed to get off the previous train and jump onto a new one. The season with Chris Paul, a newly acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, rookie Lu Dort, potential 6th Man of the Year Dennis Schroder, and Steven Adams is one that lives happily in the minds of many Thunder fans, but also one that helped position the Thunder for what they currently are today.

Which brings me to the neighbors south of us, down I-35. Dallas is in a weird spot where they have some of the pieces needed to jump-start a rebuild (Cooper Flagg and Ryan Nembhard), but also are in a holding pattern with older stars such as Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, and the currently injured Kyrie Irving. They aren’t winning, but they also aren’t losing enough. These next few months before the trade deadline will be very interesting in Dallas.

This is the 2nd of 3 meetings this season between these regional rivals. OKC won the first meeting 101-94, in Dallas, in a game that saw the Thunder big men dominate on the scoreboard and on the glass. Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams combined to score 38 points and grab 30 rebounds, with 6 of those being offensive.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -15
  • O/U: 229.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Alex Caruso – OUT (quad)
  • Lu Dort – OUT (adductor strain)
  • Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (calf)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (cancer treatment)

DAL

  • Dante Exum – OFS (knee)
  • Daniel Gafford – Questionable (ankle)
  • Kyrie Irving – OUT (knee/ACL)
  • Dereck Lively – OUT (foot)
  • PJ Washington – Questionable (ankle)

Three Big Things

  1. Ryan Nembhard – Last season, in the Finals, no players on the Indiana Pacers, outside of Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakim, had more of an impact against the Thunder than Andrew Nembhard. Dallas decided to take a chance on Andrew’s younger brother, Ryan, as an undrafted free agent this past summer. And over the past four games, all starts, Ryan Nembhard has been balling out and leading the Mavericks to a 3-1 record over that stretch. Nembhard has been averaging 17 points, 7.5 assists to 1.3 turnovers, and shooting an absurd 65% from the field and 67% from three over that 4-game stretch. The one game where he did struggle during that 4-game stretch was against the Los Angeles Clippers, who have big rangy defenders like Kris Dunn who can make life difficult for a smaller point guard. With Dort and Alex Caruso out, that onus will fall on Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell.
  2. Comfortable Dub – The more games Jalen Williams gets under his belt, the more comfortable and in rhythm he gets. He hit the 20 point mark in their last game against the Warriors, scoring 22 points. His playmaking has been in mid-season form, as he’s averaging over 6 assists per game in his first 3 games. And his shooting percentage was above 50% for the first time this season in their last game. Everyone is asking whether the Thunder should throw their hat into the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstake, but honestly, Dub coming back may be their important “acquisition” this season.
  3. Upset Potential – The Mavericks are coming into this game the hottest they’ve been all season. They are riding a 3-game winning streak, Nembhard, Cooper Flagg, and Anthony Davis are all balling out, and Dallas’ defense has been consistent. You can almost always throw records out when it comes to regional rivalries and the Thunder have the biggest target on their back this season. OKC has been a little unfocused over the past few games and if that continues, it could come back to bite them in the butt this game.

Thunder @ Indiana Pacers Preview (Game 3 – NBA Finals)

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Where We Currently Stand

  • Game 1 – 111-110 Pacers – Indiana led for 0.3 seconds of the game. Thunder led throughout, but played “not to lose” late in the game which resulted in Indiana mounting a comeback and having the last meaningful possession of the game, which resulted in a go-ahead midrange jumper from Tyrese Haliburton. Series: 1-0 IND
  • Game 2 – 123-107 OKC – Thunder use a 19-2 run in the 2nd quarter to build up a 18-point halftime lead that Indiana could not overcome this time. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was masterful in this game, putting together a 34 point, 8 assist, 5 rebound, 4 steal, and 1 block stat line. Series: Tied 1-1
  • Game 3 – June 11th, 2025 at 7:30pm CST in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN.
  • Gambler’s Corner
  • Line: OKC -5.5
  • O/U: 227.5

Game 3 Adjustments

1. More Aggressive Haliburton – Tyrese Haliburton is inherently an unselfish player. He would much rather prefer a democratic offensive system, instead of a totalitarian one where he’s the focal point. But that doesn’t mean that he can’t be that guy. In the fourth quarter of Game 2, Haliburton asserted himself a bit more and scored 12 of his 17 points on 5/6 shooting. Another surprising stat is that Haliburton hasn’t attempted a free throw in the Finals yet. While he’ll never be mistaken for a free throw merchant (3 attempts per game during the regular season), his lack of aggressiveness in the Finals has hurt the Pacers. I see that changing in Game 3.

2. Defending SGA – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points on 11-21 shooting and it didn’t even look like he was trying too hard. Whether it was splitting weak double teams or just going at his primary defender (usually his country-mates Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin), SGA was in an offensive zone that only great scorers get into. The Thunder scheme was to try to get SGA loose and moving downhill early in the set, sometimes up to 7 feet outside the 3-point line. If Indiana is going to try to play tighter and more physically on SGA, you could see a game where he becomes more of a distributor. But it could also backfire on Indiana and we could see SGA get to the free throw line at Dwayne Wade-levels in this game.

3. The Others – Whether it’s Indiana’s Others or Oklahoma City’s Others, the Others will decide who wins Game 3. Will we see a big Pascal Siakim game? Will Jalen Williams or Chet Holmgren have a defining game in this series? Will Indiana’s shooting get hot playing in front of their home crowd? Can OKC’s bench travel with them to Gainbridge?

4. Game 3’s – This is going to be the immovable object versus the unstoppable force. Oklahoma City has lost their last two Game 3’s and was down by 29 points at one point in Game 3 against Memphis before coming back to win that game. Indiana has lost all three of their Game 3’s in these playoffs by an average of 14.7 points. Something’s got to give in this Game 3.

5. Dominant OKC – While the series is tied 1-1, Oklahoma City has clearly been the better team in this series. They’ve led for 94 of the 96 minutes so far and have been able to mount double-digit leads with ease throughout the series. Now to see if they can continue doing that on the road.