The Oklahoma City Thunder’s shooting woes continued in Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks as the Thunder dropped a 105-101 decision to go down 2-1 in the Western Conference Semifinals. Dallas managed to grab 9 more offensive rebounds than OKC, which led to 12 more second-chance points. Shore up those two areas, and the Thunder will be in a lot better position.
Oklahoma City lost 3 consecutive games just once during the regular season, but they really can’t afford to let that happen tonight in Game 3. If Dallas were to take a 3-1 lead headed back to OKC for Game 5, the Thunder would have to do something that has only been done twice in NBA history if they wanted to win the series. The Thunder know what adjustments need to be made to win Game 4, so if they can battle closer to Dallas in the interior while knocking down shots closer to their season average, they should be able to head back to Oklahoma City with home court advantage once again.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas)
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: Luka Doncic
- SG: Kyrie Irving
- SF: Derrick Jones Jr.
- PF: P.J. Washington
- C: Daniel Gafford
Injury Report
Thunder
- NONE
Mavericks
- Luka Doncic is QUESTIONABLE (sprained right knee).
- Maxi Kleber is OUT (sprained right shoulder).
- Olivier-Maxence Prosper is OUT (sprained left ankle).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder are 30-26 against the Mavericks in the regular season (17-11 at home, 13-15 on the road) and 10-7 in the playoffs (5-4 at home, 5-3 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder have 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 went 3-1 against the Mavericks this season (2-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder are 1-2 against the Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals (1-1 at home, 0-1 on the road).