The Dallas Mavericks welcome the undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. Joe LaTengo hits the hardwood to see what kind of hosts the defending NBA champions might be.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook take their unbeaten, acrobatic ways on the road to Big D, which isn’t looking so big these days. The Mavericks may have the Larry O’Brien Trophy on display, but they’re going to have a tough time defending it based on their poor start and the emergence of their rivals.
The Mavs’ record stands at 1-4 right now, including an embarrassing 11-point loss on Christmas Day at home against the unbeaten Miami Heat. The 105-94 final score actually flattered Dallas, which was down by as many as 20 points late in the third quarter.
The Dirk Nowitzki-led squad may have rolled the Thunder out of last season’s playoffs on their way to the championship, but it’s the Oklahoma City upstarts who are showing strength early. Durant is large and in charge, third overall in the league and first among small forwards with a 27.4 points-per-game average, and he’s also at (or near) the top at his position in rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and three-pointers. Point guard Westbrook is in the top 10 in PPG, rebounds and steals.
The dynamic duo has led the Thunder to a 5-0 record; ironically, the closest they have come to losing so far in this young season was when they hosted the Mavericks at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on December 29. Despite coughing up 26 turnovers and watching Dallas take the lead on a clutch trey by Vince Carter with 1.4 seconds remaining, OKC managed to scrape out a 104-102 win when Durant hit an incredible three-pointer at the final buzzer.
With four games in five nights and coming off another listless effort in Minnesota on Sunday (38.7 percent shooting, 17 turnovers and beaten 54-35 on the boards), Dallas is one tired championship squad. Meanwhile, their opponents blew out the Phoenix Suns 107-97 on New Year’s Eve and rested on Sunday.
The NBA betting on this game to this point indicates that the rematch won’t be any better for the Mavs on their home court at the American Airlines Center than their two-point loss on the road last Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Eastern (5:30 p.m. Pacific), with television coverage on regional Fox Sports channels (Oklahoma and Southwest) and NBATV.
