NBA Basketball Matchup: Mavs vs Thunder
It’s a rematch of the Western Conference Finals from last year tonight in Oklahoma City. The Mavericks outlasted the Thunder in a terrific season last year, but the Thunder have the best record in the West so far this season.
NBA Basketball Matchup: Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
8:00 PM EST
NBA Gambling Odds from JustBet
NBA Betting Favorite: Thunder -6.5
Over/Under: 195.5
There will be plenty of stars on the floor tonight, and I expect another tremendous game between these two top teams.
Dirk Nowitzki carried the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA title last season. Dirk hasn’t been the same player this year, and he even admitted he lost a little bit of his drive right after winning the title. The last few games Nowitzki has looked much better, and I think he is starting to round into that post season form he had last year.
In the team’s last game against Utah, Nowitzki had a season high 40 points in just 29 minutes of action.
Dallas has plenty of scoring options in Jason Terry, Vince Carter, Shawn Marion, and Lamar Odom. Odom has been a bust so far this year, but I still believe he can help this team in the long run.
Dallas is fourth in the NBA in field goal percentage defense. Opponents shoot just 42.1% from the floor against the Mavericks. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Oklahoma City was on a nice winning streak before they dropped their last game in Atlanta. It was an uncharacteristically bad shooting night from this team against the Hawks. Kevin Durant averages 28.2 points per game, and he is shooting a terrific 50.6% from the floor. Russell Westbrook continues to improve, and he averages 23.6 points per game.
Most people don’t realize how good James Harden is, but he is a very important part of this team.
Harden averages 16.5 points per game, and he is great at both driving the lane and shooting it from long-range. Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Collison give the team a great interior defense.
Oklahoma City is third in the league in points per game at 102.1 per contest.
Look for both teams to come out and play their best in this one. Oklahoma City gets the edge here at home, but it should be a close one.
Prediction: Oklahoma City 98 Dallas 96
