Mavericks vs. Thunder Preview
The last meeting between Oklahoma City and Dallas, the newfound I-35 rivals, was a very hard fought game. The score of 100-86 is a bit misleading. The game was close heading into the fourth quarter. Dallas lead 71-68 before Kevin Durant crumbled slightly, while future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki rose to the challenge and put out the Thunder.
James Harden and Durant were really the only Thunder players who struggled with the vaunted Dallas defense. The Thunder actually 
out-rebounded Dallas, but shot only 42% from the field and 27.5% from deep. The rowdy, proud, and loud crowd may have had something to do with the poor shooting. It was also only the second time this season that OKC had made it to ESPN, but the team responded with a strong win over the Bucks the first time around.
Currently, the Mavericks are facing minor injuries to both Drew Gooden and Josh Howard. Both players have been rather injury prone so far this year, so I wouldn’t expect their potential absence to throw off the flow of the offense. In all likelihood, Gooden should play. He had 4 stitches to close a cut on his chin, but that should not keep him out long. Eric Dampier has missed a few games recently, but Rick Carlisle has said that he expects Damp to play against the Lakers tonight, so even if he does not, he is expected to play against OKC.
The Thunder, on the other hand, has been largely injury free thus far. Knock on wood. Russell Westbrook can be expected to give aging Jason Kidd all kinds of trouble. Westbrook has made significant strides in the turnover department, while Kidd has only gotten slower.
Aside from getting spanked by the Lakers, Dallas has had a very successful December and early January. Oklahoma City had been very consistent all year. They have beaten the bad teams, won a fair share of toss ups, and hung with the big boys. The young Thunder has even stolen a few from the elites.
Last time around, Shaun Livingston had poor effort against Dallas. This time, Scott Brooks won’t have to worry about that. New back up point guard Eric Maynor has played masterfully in his short time in Oklahoma City. Maynor 
could be considered one of the top back up PGs in the league. Only players like George Hill, Darren Collison, and Mario Chalmers could rival him. Please forgive me if someone has slipped my mind.
Dallas and Oklahoma City are 6th and 7th, respectively, in team rebounding in the league. They both average a shade over 43 per game. The difference, though, lies in the differential. Dallas outrebounds its opponents by about .5 per game. OKC, on the other hand, has a differential of 1.94; So, just under 2 per game advantage. This is especially impressive due to the overall lack of size on the Thunder’s roster. Even given those stats, Dirk, Damp, and Matrix will probably be the difference in the rebounding margin.
Like all games against involving two good teams, crunch time will come down to the performance of the stars. Dirk made the difference last time. He is putting up numbers on par with those put up earlier in his career. His rebounds are down slightly, but there is no cause for concern. 8 per game is only .5 under his career average. Despite an overall solid season, Nowitzki is 
shooting barely 40% from the field in his last 5 games and 33% from distance. Jeff Green will have his hands full regardless of the numbers, but if Dirk’s jumper isn’t falling, the Mavericks usually struggle.
Kevin Durant is, as most of you probably know, a rapidly improving superstar. His scoring average has improved significantly each of his professional seasons. Thus far this year, he is averaging 28.8 points per game, and 30.6 in the month of January. All young players improve as the season goes on, so I don’t expect any kind of significant drop off. As far as his mental matchup with Nowitzki goes, the momentum is in his favor right now, despite being outplayed in their last meeting.
We can talk about numbers and matchups all night, but this game is in Dallas, and that is a very difficult place to play, especially on a Friday night against a rival. If Durant and Co. knock off the Spurs tonight, expect their confidence to be sky high come Friday. They’ll have that swag on, and there may not be much Dallas can do about it. If OKC loses to the San Antonio, and Dallas gets up on them early, this young team could fold. I really don’t know what the outcome will. I certainly wouldn’t put money on it. I do know that it will be a good one to watch though.
Related posts:
