Tip-Off: 8 PM CT
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
It’s been a week since the Oklahoma City Thunder last played basketball, and they entered the NBA All-Star Break on a high note with a 107-102 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The night before on March 3rd, however, OKC struggled to get much done as they dropped an 87-78 decision to the Dallas Mavericks. Tonight, just 8 days later, the Thunder and the Mavs get a rematch.
Entering this season, the Mavericks were considered one of the more competitive teams in the Western Conference, but at the midway point, they are just 8th in the standings with a 19-16 record. On the other hand, the Thunder is performing slightly better than expected. With a 15-21 record, OKC has beaten some teams they had no business beating, and really, they haven’t had very many bad losses.
Still, games like last Wednesday’s defeat in Dallas leave a bad taste in the mouths of players and fans alike, and it’d be nice to see OKC put up a better fight tonight. A week of rest usually does every team some good, and with no participation in All-Star Weekend from the Thunder, I anticipate they will come out with a renewed sense of competition.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Théo Maledon
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Al Horford
Mavericks
- PG: Trey Burke
- SG: Josh Richardson
- SF: Dorian Finney-Smith
- PF: Maxi Kleber
- C: Kristaps Porzingis
Injuries
Thunder
- Trevor Ariza is OUT (not with team).
- Hamidou Diallo is OUT (sore right groin).
- Josh Hall is OUT (sore left knee).
- George Hill is OUT (right thumb surgery).
Mavericks
- Luka Doncic is OUT (injury recovery).
- Nate Hinton is OUT (G League; on assignment).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 23-20 against the Mavericks in the regular season (14-8 at home, 9-12 on the road) and 9-5 in the playoffs (4-3 at home, 5-2 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Mavericks 4 times, lost 5 times, and tied 3 times.
- The Thunder is 0-1 against the Mavericks so far this season (0-0 at home, 0-1 on the road).