NBA Playoffs
Western Conference – Round 1
Tip-off: Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Oklahoma City -8.0, Total: 197.0

The Mavericks will be looking to take a surprising 2-1 series lead with a victory at home over the Thunder on Thursday.

Game 2 between the Thunder and Mavericks was one of the most exciting contests of this year’s playoffs. The Mavs were 14-point underdogs in Oklahoma City and were able to come away with an 85-84 victory. The Thunder tipped in a shot that would have been the game just tenths of a second late and then came the celebration for Dallas. The Mavericks now host the Thunder and can take a lead in the series. They are 3-2 both SU and ATS when playing as the host in this head-to-head series over the past three seasons. All five of those contests happened to have gone OVER the total. One thing that favors the Thunder in this game is the fact that Dallas is 10-23 ATS in home games off a road win over the past three seasons. Oklahoma City is, however, a miserable 1-9 ATS in road games when playing with two days rest over the past two seasons. The Thunder are entering this game at full strength on Thursday, but the Mavericks will be without SFs Chandler Parsons (Knee) and Jeremy Evans (Shoulder) for the remainder of the year. PG J.J. Barea (Groin) and PF David Lee (Foot) are both listed as questionable for Dallas.

The Thunder are coming off of a really bad outing in Game 2 and now need to win a game on the road in order to take back control of this series. If Oklahoma City is going to win this one then SF Kevin Durant (28.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.2 BPG, 1.0 SPG in regular season) must play a lot better than he did on Monday. Durant was 7-for-33 from the field in that game and also had seven turnovers. That type of poor play is not going to cut it moving forward. He’d be wise to get some shots at the basket, as he was 2-for-11 from the outside in Game 2 and that is just poor shot selection for the Thunder superstar. While Durant was the guy that stuck out as being awful, PG Russell Westbrook (23.5 PPG, 10.4 APG, 7.8 RPG, 2.0 SPG in regular season) wasn’t necessarily much better. Westbrook had 19 points, 14 boards and six assists in the game, but he was also just 8-for-22 from the floor and 1-for-6 from the outside. Westbrook must take better shots in this game and that may mean that he stops shooting as many threes. He hit just 29.6% of his outside shots during the regular season and he must realize that he’s better off getting himself to the rim or taking midrange shots. Oklahoma City can also use some improved play from C Enes Kanter (12.7 PPG, 8.1 RPG in regular season) and SG Dion Waiters (9.8 PPG, 1.0 SPG in regular season). Both guys are here to support Westbrook and Durant, but they combined to score just 14 points in Game 2. Kanter needs to be better around the basket and Waiters must find a way to be effective off the ball on Thursday.

The Mavericks shocked a lot of people by winning Game 2 in Oklahoma City and a big reason they were able to do that was PG Raymond Felton (9.5 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3.2 RPG in regular season). Felton saw a lot of minutes with Barea not playing and he showed up in a big way. In 42 minutes of action, Felton finished the game with 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a steal. He did not back down from Russell Westbrook and was huge offensively for a Mavericks team that is lacking in the talent department. He’ll need to be ready to play at a high level once again on Thursday. PF Dirk Nowitzki (18.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG in regular season) had 17 points and four rebounds on 7-for-19 shooting from the floor in Game 2. He has not yet shot the ball well in this series, but he’s due for a big game soon. It’d be crucial for the Mavericks if he can come through with a clutch performance in Game 3. SG Wesley Matthews (12.5 PPG, 1.0 SPG in regular season) is another guy that must shoot well for Dallas. He is just 6-for-21 from the floor and 1-for-13 from the outside in the postseason. Matthews is a much better shooter than those numbers indicate and he’ll need to start knocking down some shots soon.