The Oklahoma City Thunder are doing battle with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night during an Amazon Prime exclusive game as these two sides meet for the second time this season. The OKC Thunder hope to keep rolling, sitting atop the entire NBA with a 21-1 record, already downing the Mavericks once this season. Dallas looks to build on their first bit of positive momentum all season long, having won three in a row, going 5-5 over their last ten games.
Part of that has been Anthony Davis staying healthy and returning to form to help life the Mavs, while rookie Cooper Flagg has also found his stride living up to the hype as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and the generational talent he was billed as.
For the Thunder, they continue to navigate through adversity on the injury report. Without Isaiah Hartenstein with his re-evaluation set for 10 to 14 days from last Saturday as he deals with a calf strain. Lu Dort and Alex Caruso still are in street clothes with an adductor strain and quad contusion respectively.
Oklahoma City hasn’t let that stop them from being the best team in the NBA with the league’s best defense and net rating.
Here is what to watch for in this contest between the OKC Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.