NBA Playoffs
Western Conference – Round 1
Tip-off: Monday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Oklahoma City -13.5, Total: 200.0

The Mavericks will be looking to even up the series at 1-1 when they face the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Monday.

Game 1 could not have gone any worse for Dallas, as the team lost 108-70 as a 12.5-point road underdog in Oklahoma City. The Mavericks were lousy on both ends of the floor, shooting just 29.8% from the floor and allowing the Thunder to shoot 45.0%. It also doesn’t help that Dallas was outrebounded 65-52. The Mavericks are going to need to play a lot harder than the Thunder moving forward, as the only way they can defeat them is by playing a very scrappy brand of basketball. One trend that really stands out in this game is that the Mavericks are 21-5 ATS after trailing in their previous game by 15 points or more at the half with Rick Carlisle as head coach. The Thunder, meanwhile, are 11-2 ATS in home games after a game where they made 12 or more threes over the past two seasons. Dallas is facing some serious injury concerns coming into this game. PG J.J. Barea (Groin), PF David Lee (Foot) and PG Deron Williams (Hernia) are all expected to miss this game for the Mavericks, who are already without SF Chandler Parsons (Knee) for the rest of the year. The Thunder are expected to be at full-strength in this one, so they’ll have a huge advantage coming into this game.

The Mavericks are extremely banged up and also happened to look awful in Game 1 in Oklahoma City. If this team is going to have any shot of evening the series up then PF Dirk Nowitzki (18.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG in regular season) is going to need to come through with a vintage performance for Dallas. Nowitzki was solid in Game 1, finishing the game with 18 points and four boards on 7-for-15 shooting from the floor. He played just 25 minutes in that one, so he should be well rested coming into Game 2. The Mavericks are going to need to feed him the ball often on Monday. It’ll likely take a 30-point performance from Nowitzki if this team is going to win this game. SG Wesley Matthews (12.5 PPG, 1.0 SPG in regular season) is also going to need to show up for Dallas. He had just seven points in Game 1 and the Mavericks need him to be better than that. Matthews is one of the team’s best options from the outside and he also is counted on to slow down the guy he is guarding every night. He did not do that in Game 2 and will need to show more effort on the defensive end on Monday. An x-factor for Dallas in this game could be PG Raymond Felton (9.5 PPG, 3.6 APG in regular season). Felton is going to see a lot of minutes with Barea injured and it’d be huge if he can come close to holding his own against Russell Westbrook. One thing Felton has going for him is that he is a feisty competitor. He plays with a ton of pride and his teammates will need to follow suit in this game.

The Thunder put on a magnificent display in Game 1 of this series and as long as PG Russell Westbrook (23.5 PPG, 10.4 APG, 7.8 RPG, 2.0 SPG in regular season) and SF Kevin Durant (28.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.2 BPG, 1.0 SPG in regular season) are healthy then the Thunder should easily advance to the next round. The Mavericks are severely lacking in the talent department and Westbrook and Durant give the Thunder two of the top-five players in the entire NBA. Westbrook was excellent in Game 1, finishing with 24 points and 11 assists in 30 minutes of action. None of the guards on Dallas have the necessary size and athleticism to stay in front of him for an entire game. Doing it for the entirety of a series seems extremely unlikely. Durant, meanwhile, had 23 points, five assists and five boards in 27 minutes of action on Saturday. With Parsons out, the Mavericks don’t have anybody with the length to cover Durant. He should have no trouble going off in Game 2 and it’s very likely that both Westbrook and Durant will get plenty of rest before what’s likely to be a grueling second round of the postseason.