The Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder will play the second game of their Western Conference semifinals series here on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in Oklahoma City. There should be another close and competitive match up here on Thursday night between two of the top teams in the Western Conference, as both of them look to get one step closer to winning an NBA championship this season. Oklahoma City looked incredible in the opening game of the series, and that is something they will look to replicate throughout the second game of the series here on Thursday night.
As they look to remain undefeated in the postseason and undefeated on their home floor throughout the postseason as well. Another victory here on Thursday night for Oklahoma City would give them a comfortable two games to zero lead before heading back to Dallas for the following two games of the series later this week. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks will need to figure out a way to regroup after losing the opening game of the series and they will need to find a way to shut down Oklahoma City superstars if they want to be successful here in game number two on Thursday evening.
It was a relatively competitive game throughout the early stages of the contest before the Oklahoma City offense got going, and they put up 117 points by the time the final buzzer sounded. Dallas was pretty efficient on the offensive end of the court themselves as they put up 95 points in their loss, but they could not keep up with the explosive Thunder throughout game one earlier this week. That is a problem they will certainly need to solve, or they need to improve their defense in a quick turnaround if they want to be more successful in the second game of the series. Otherwise, we could easily see similar result as we saw the opening game of the series and it could end with another double digit victory for Oklahoma City.
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History Between These Two Teams These two teams are pretty familiar with each other at this point in the season and having met multiple times throughout the regular season and the opening game of this series as well. Oklahoma City holds a distinct advantage over the Dallas Mavericks this season winning four out of five previous matchups between the two teams this year. It is worth noting that Oklahoma City is 3-0 against Dallas at home this season, with a average margin of victory of 26 points.
Today’s Predictions The availability of Luka Dončić is unknown coming into this game, as he is currently listed as a gametime decision prior to the tip off of this contest on Thursday night. That would be a fatal blow to the Dallas Mavericks. Chances of evening up this series before heading back to Dallas for the next two games. If Luka Dončić is unable to go, Kyrie Irving and the players around him will need to step up to a higher level if they want to be successful against Oklahoma City here in this one. This could end up being another long night for the Dallas Mavericks, even if Luka Dončić is in the lineup if they do not figure out how to slow down the explosive offense of Oklahoma City throughout this game.
Most importantly, they will need to limit the production of Shai Gilgeous Alexander after his incredible performance in the opening game of the series earlier this week. Alexander had a team high 29 points in the opening game of the series and he was pretty efficient shooting the basketball making eight of his 19 field goal attempts. he was very efficient at the free-throw line hitting 11 of 13 attempts and that is part of the reason why Oklahoma City was able to pick up as big of a victory as they did against the Dallas Mavericks.
With the health and availability of Luka Dončić in question for the second game of this series, I expect him to either be out or limited in his production against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. Which means I look for the Oklahoma City Thunder to grab a second consecutive victory against the Dallas Mavericks here and this one at home and I look for them to take a commanding two games to zero lead in the series before heading back to Dallas. Not only do I look for Oklahoma City to pick up the victory here on Thursday night at home, but I also look for them to cover the spread against Dallas as well.
Tips For Betting Oklahoma City has been tremendous at home this season, as they have compiled a record of 38-6, which was good for second best in the NBA and best in the Western Conference. They were even better when they were favored at home this season winning 33 games in 38 opportunities. That is two things they will look to maintain momentum on here on Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Pick: Thunder -5.5 (+100)
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