The Oklahoma City Thunder were unable to get into a flow against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, and it eventually cost them the game. The Pacers played a physical brand of basketball from the opening tip-off, and the Thunder didn’t adjust until the second half. Despite taking a 1-point lead late in the third quarter, OKC was unable to complete a comeback, and Indiana left with a 121-111 win.
Perhaps OKC’s biggest problem was missing Jalen Williams due to a sprained ankle. JDub has consistently been OKC’s second-leading scorer while also providing a stability on defense that few players on the roster can match. Regardless, it was probably good for the Thunder to play the league’s top-scoring offense down a man so they could see some weakness ahead of the postseason. The good news is that Williams is no longer on the injury report and should be back in the starting line up tonight as the Thunder hosts the Dallas Mavericks.
The Thunder are 1-1 against the Mavericks, and Dallas is on a 4-game winning streak after defeating the Golden State Warriors 109-99 last night, but after exiting the game early due to a sore left hamstring, Luka Doncic has been ruled out for tonight’s contest. A lot of fans were looking forward to an MVP-candidate matchup between Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but that will have to wait until the two teams play again on Sunday, April 14th.
Without Doncic, the Mavs are simply not the same team, and as a result, OKC is considered a heavy favorite to win. Regardless of what Vegas says, however, the Thunder need to get back on the winning track, and a solid, convincing win against a playoff team would do well as OKC gears up for the last stretch of the season.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center
Television: TNT
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Dallas Mavericks Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Mavericks
- PG: Kyrie Irviing
- SG: Tim Hardaway Jr.
- SF: Derrick Jones Jr.
- PF: PJ Washington
- C: Daniel Gafford
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (G League – on assignment).
- Adam Flagler is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Keyontae Johnson is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Olivier Sarr is OUT (G League — two-way).
Mavericks
- Greg Brown III is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Luka Doncic is OUT (sore left hamstring).
- Alex Fudge is OUT (G League – two-way).
- Olivier-Maxence Prosper is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Brandon Williams is OUT (sprained left wrist).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder are 28-26 against the Mavericks in the regular season (15-11 at home, 13-15 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 5 times, lost 7 times, and tied 3 times.
- The Thunder went 2-1 against the Mavericks last season (1-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder are 1-1 against the Mavericks so far this season (0-0 at home,1-1 on the road).