The Oklahoma City Thunder is steadily approaching the franchise-best 15-game winning streak set by last season’s squad, as they have a shot at their 14th straight win on Friday night at home against the Dallas Mavericks. At 21-1, OKC not only owns the best win streak in the league, but they also have the best record, and it’s not even close.
The Thunder is on pace to break the record for most regular-season wins—73, set by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors—and they have yet to play a single game with their regular starting five. Still, they continue to find ways to win games, usually with ease, but before long, the schedule is going to stiffen, and competition is going to get tighter.
That shouldn’t be the case tonight, though, as the Mavericks enter the Paycom Center with an 8-15 record. Their struggles have been unexpected, but Anthony Davis looks reasonably healthy right now, and Cooper Flagg has found his footing after a slow start to his rookie season. Dallas is currently on a 3-game win streak—their only instance of winning consecutive games this season—but that should come to an end as long as OKC takes care of the ball and stays locked in on the defensive end.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: Prime Video
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: Cason Wallace
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Mavericks
- PG: Ryan Nembhard
- SG: Max Christie
- SF: Cooper Flagg
- PF: P.J. Washington
- C: Anthony Davis
Injury Report
Thunder
- Brooks Barnhizer (G League — two-way) is PROBABLE.
- Branden Carlson (nasal fracture) is AVAILABLE.
- Alex Caruso (right quad soreness) is OUT.
- Luguentz Dort (strained right adductor) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (strained right soleus) is OUT.
- Isaiah Joe (left knee soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Chris Youngblood (G League — two-way) is PROBABLE.
Mavericks
- Dante Exum (right knee injury management) is OUT.
- Cooper Flagg (right thumb splint) is AVAILABLE.
- Daniel Gafford (right ankle injury management) is OUT.
- Kyrie Irving (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Dereck Lively II (right foot injury management) is OUT.
- P.J. Washington (sprained right ankle) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 32-29 against the Mavericks in the regular season (18-13 at home, 14-16 on the road) and 11-9 in the playoffs (5-5 at home, 6-4 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Mavericks 6 times, lost 8 times, and tied 3 times.
- The Thunder went 1-3 against the Mavericks last season (1-1 at home, 0-2 on the road) in the regular season.
- The Thunder is 1-0 against the Mavericks so far this season (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).