NBA 2018-19, Oklahoma City Thunder vs Dallas Mavericks: Preview and prediction
Oklahoma City Thunder (22-13) vs Dallas Mavericks (17-18), Chesapeake Energy Arena
Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Dallas Mavericks tonight at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
OKC and Mavericks will play second of their back to back games tonight. Yesterday, Mavericks edged out OKC by two points as Russel Westbrook missed the buzzer beater.
Let us see how things stand for both teams tonight.
The Oklahoma City Thunder perspective
Oklahoma City Thunder have lost three of their last four games. They rank third in the West currently and will be willing to maintain this position.
They had a narrow loss against this same Mavs team yesterday with Paul George going off for 36 points and five rebounds. However, he could not knock down the step back jumper during the last few seconds to seal the game for the thunder.
Russel Westbrook had a forgettable night as he scored just 9 points and had a horrible shooting performance.
OKC will be eager to take the revenge tonight at home.
The Dallas Mavericks perspective
Mavs have lost six of their last eight games and need a few wins to generate some winning momentum.
They beat the OKC yesterday where the rookie Luka Doncic had another great performance as he finished with team-high 25 points. Doncic is the top contender for the rookie of the year until now. Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith Jr. contributed 16 and 14 points respectively. Also, DeAndre Jordan grabbed 17 rebounds for the game and also pitched in 12 points.
Dallas have slipped to 12th position in the West and needs to win a few games in a stretch to get back to contention. They will be looking to repeat the win against the Thunder tonight.
How things might unfold
It was an exhilarating game when these two teams faced each other in Dallas yesterday. However, Russel Westbrook had a cold night and scored just 9 points. He is back to his home tonight, and we can expect him to explode.
It will be OKC on fire tonight.
Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Dallas Mavericks