Dallas maneuvered into the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and will avoid having to play the Spurs in the first round. Instead, the Mavericks open at Oklahoma City against a team that swept the four-game regular season series.
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Dallas Mavericks +12
Oklahoma City Thunder -12
Over/Under 210.5
LOOK AHEAD
Thanks to a nice late season run and the collapse of the Grizzlies, the Mavericks took the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference by a tie-break over Memphis and avoided having to play San Antonio in the first round. Instead, Dallas gets the Thunder, who they failed to beat in four regular season tries. Propelled by a season-best six-game winning streak and seven wins in their final nine games, the Mavericks moved from out of the top-eight into the sixth spot earning another trip to the postseason. However, Wednesday’s finale against the Spurs was not how the Mavs wanted to enter the playoffs. With a chance to clinch the sixth seed on their own, Dallas fell to the Spurs, who left four starters and two key reserves at home for their meaningless final game.
The Thunder will be rested as they await the opening of an anticipated postseason for them. We could bring up OKC’s 3-5 record down the stretch, but that comes with an asterisk. The Thunder had the third-seed in the West locked up since the All-Star break and coach Billy Donovan took the opportunity to rest several players down the stretch, so we have to view the entire picture. OKC won all four regular season meetings against the Mavs and did have to squeak by in a couple of three-point games.
INJURIES
Dallas played Wednesday’s season finale without guards J.J. Barea, who rested a groin strain, and Devin Harris, who has a sprained thumb. They also lost forward David Lee to a foot injury in the second quarter. Barea and Harris will likely play, but Lee is more of a question mark. The Mavs are also being careful with point guard Deron Williams, who missed eight games with a sports hernia.
KEY MATCHUP
Russell Westbrook has turned into a statistical avalanche for the Thunder. On Monday night against the Lakers, Westbrook recorded his 18th triple-double of the season, and he did it in just 17 minutes of run time. It was also the fifth time he triple-doubled in less than 30 minutes this season. The rest of the NBA has done that just once. The crazy stat lines haven’t just been for show either, as the Thunder are undefeated in the games where Westbrook goes triple-double. The Mavs will try to get in Westbrook’s head much like they did on Jan. 13, when Westbrook was ejected in the first half after skirmishes with Barea. He was scoreless in that contest playing just 14 minutes. If Westbrook keeps his cool, he could have a big opener.
QUICK PICK
OKC was one of two teams that didn’t play on Wednesday night, getting an extra day of rest before the NBA playoffs get underway. The Thunder also left Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka at home when they concluded the season at San Antonio on Tuesday night. So they should be well rested when they open on Saturday. And that should frighten the Mavs, who exerted a tremendous amount of energy to just to qualify for the postseason and have several players nursing injuries. Dallas has slowed the game down because of this and limited its last nine opponents to fewer than 100 points. That style won’t work against the efficient Thunder.
NBA Odds: Oklahoma City 107, Dallas 97
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