The last time the Dallas Mavericks (25-19) and Oklahoma City Thunder (32-12) met, things got heated and the Thunder took advantage of a depleted Mavericks roster coming off an overtime loss the night before with a merciless 108-89 beatdown in OKC.
With Dirk Nowitzki questionable for tonight’s game, after some sudden swelling in his knee caused him to miss Wednesday’s OT win over the T’Wolves, the Thunder could get another crack at a Mavericks team at less than full strength.
“The good thing is I didn’t really have any pain with it,” said Nowitzki. “It was just swelling there, and that’s why they decided to hold me out (Wednesday night). I’ll probably take a light day, and then hopefully Friday we’ll see where it is. Go through shootaround and see how it is. I guess there’s always something coming up, and that was one thing that came up out of nowhere.” (Update: Dirk did go through shootaround today)
Dallas has actually won their last three home games against the Thunder with two of the three games being decided by five points or less. Interestingly, the one game not decided by that slim margin was a nine point overtime win by Dallas at the end of the 2013-2014 season. A much different Mavericks team will be hosting a hot Thunder team Friday.
Since a 7-6 start under new coach Billy Donovan, the Thunder have gone on a 25-6 run to get to their 32-12 record that pins them comfortably in their current position of third in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City is again led by their dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The pair combines for an average of 50 points per game and both are in the top ten in scoring in the league. Durant and Westbrook average 24.7 and 21.5 points per game for their career against the Mavericks.
It will be a hard matchup for a Dallas defense who has limited great individual defenders. Despite struggling to find consistency on offense, Wesley Matthews has been great on defense all year. Always guarding the opposing team’s best wing player, Matthews will have to find someone help him against the Thunder. No team in the NBA offers two better perimeter players on the floor at the same time.
“I know they’re going to come aggressive,” Barea said. “We’ve got to be ready, especially here at home. They’ve won the last two, but it will be a very exciting game. There will be a lot of energy out there, so we’ll see what happens.”
Tip-off is at 7:30 and can be seen on Fox Sports Southwest and heard on 103.3 KESN.
Quotes Via Mavs.com
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