Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: BOK Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Streaming: Thunder App
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off their preseason on Sunday with a 112-101 victory in Denver over the Nuggets, and tonight the Thunder will carry on a tradition of playing a preseason game at the BOK Center in Tulsa when they host the Dallas Mavericks. This is the first of just three preseason games for the Mavericks, and unfortunately, they will be without several key guys, including Luka Doncic.
OKC will continue to be without several key players, but the extra play time for the young guys could go a long way by the start of the regular season. 14 different players saw the court on Sunday against the Nuggets, and at 10 of them played at least 15 minutes. Tre Mann led the Thunder in scoring with 17 points, and Josh Giddey and Aaron Wiggins added 15 apiece. All 14 Thunder players scored.
Tonight’s matchup should be a fun one featuring a lot of young guys on both sides, but it is to be expected that the Thunder may limit the minutes for the starters because they will return to OKC immediately for the first home preseason game tomorrow night when they host the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League (NBL).
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Tre Mann
- SF: Kenrich Williams
- PF: Alesekj Pokusevski
- C: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Mavericks
- PG: Frank Ntilikina
- SG: Spencer Dinwiddie
- SF: Reggie Bullock
- PF: Dorian Finney-Smith
- C: Christian Wood
Injuries
Thunder
- Marquese Chriss is OUT (knee surgery).
- Luguentz Dort is OUT (concussion protocol).
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is OUT (sprained left MCL).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (Lisfranc injury in right foot).
- Mike Muscala is OUT (sprained left ankle).
Mavericks
- Davis Bertans (right knee soreness) is OUT.
- Luka Doncic (rest) is OUT.
- Javale McGee (sprained left ankle) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 25-24 against the Mavericks in the regular season (15-11 at home, 10-13 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 7 times, and tied 3 times.
- The Thunder went 1-3 against the Mavericks last season (0-2 at home, 1-1 on the road).