The Dallas Mavericks (8-15) rides a three-game win streak north to the Sooner state to face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder (21-1). Dallas should be feeling great as they’re playing their best basketball of the young season lately, most recently dispatching the Miami Heat at home. Oklahoma City has a little streak of their own, winning 13 and being just the fourth team in NBA history to start 21-1.
Here’s the main things you need to know before the game kicks off.
Another difficult injury report for the Mavericks, but that’s the norm. Kyrie Irving, Dante Exum, and Dereck Lively II are all out. PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford were ruled out this morning, each is dealing with a lingering ankle issue. But I also bet one or both plays in their game tomorrow. The Thunder have some banged up guys as well, they’re simply deeper than Dallas. Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, and Isaiah Hartenstein are all out. Isaiah Joe is questionable as of this writing.
Predicting this one feels stupid. The Thunder have been crushing teams. Dallas just keeps hanging around; they haven’t been blown out in a while. Something has to give here.
As you can tell below, you can join me in a room on Playback (embed below) during the game (though I may not be able to start it until halftime). Also consider joining Josh and I on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube, we should start around 10:15 pm. Thanks so much for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go Mavs!