vs. 
Dallas Mavericks (18-7, 9-4 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (12-11, 6-6 home)
TV: ESPN (Cox 29, HD 720); KSBI (Cox 15, HD 715)
Stream: Click Here; ESPN360
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 104.9 (22nd), Mavericks – 108.0 (14th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.1 (6th), Mavericks – 102.8 (4th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.3 (19th), Mavericks – 92.3 (17th)
View from the enemy: The Two Man Game
National TV. A pretty important game. Dirk Nowitzki’s hair and headband. Yep, I’d say this is something to be excited about.
The big implications are there. Again, on ESPN for the whole world to see. The Thunder needs to stop a two-game losing streak (hasn’t had a three-game since Nov. 6). And a loss could drop OKC to .500 again, with the toughest stretch of the season looming. I’d say this is a big game. I know that’s crazy to say about a December tilt, but when you haven’t really had a game of any importance in the last couple years, a December game keeping you above .500 on national TV against a really good team qualifies as big. At least to me.
Dallas coming in has won four straight, with wins over Phoenix, Charlotte, Miami and New Orleans. Josh Howard’s return has really opened up things offensively and strenghtened the team defensively. The Mavs have been playing solid defense lately, allowing 100 points just once in their last six games and that was to the Suns.
Some Elias Game Notes:
- Last season, Kevin Durant (25.3 PPG), Jeff Green (16.5), and Russell Westbrook (15.3) became only the second trio of teammates, all age 22 or younger, each to average at least 15 points per game. The first was Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, and Ron Mercer for the Celtics in 1998–1999.
- Kevin Durant averaged 20.3 points per game as a rookie, and he has increased his average in each of the two seasons since then, to 25.3 as a second-year player and 28.5 this season. If you’re looking for a player with a similar progression during his first three seasons in the NBA, the best you’ll find is Spencer Haywood: 20.6 in 1970–1971, then 26.2 and 29.2 in the following seasons.
- Over the last 25 years, only three players have posted a scoring average as high as Durant’s current mark (28.5 PPG) in their third season in the NBA: Michael Jordan (37.1 in 1986–1987), Shaquille O’Neal (29.3 in 1994–1995), and LeBron James (31.4 in 2005–2006).
- Kevin Durant has led the Thunder in scoring in each of his last 11 games, the longest current streak in the NBA.
- Kevin Durant’s streak of 44 consecutive free throws ended on Sunday night. That was the longest streak in the NBA this season. The last Sonics/Thunder player with a streak that long was Luke Ridnour, who made 53 straight foul shots in 2005 (Apr. 3–Nov. 18).
- Russell Westbrook registered the only triple-double of his NBA career the last time these teams met: 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 96–87 win at Ford Center (March 2, 2009). Only three NBA players posted a triple-double at as young an age as Westbrook (20 years, 110 days): Magic Johnson (3 in 1979), Lamar Odom (1999), and LeBron James (3 in 2005).
- LeBron James scored 44 points against the Thunder on Sunday, and Carmelo Anthony scored 31 against them on Monday. That equaled the number of 30-point games against Oklahoma City over their first 21 games of the season. (Kobe Bryant and Monta Ellis both scored 31.)
THE MATCHUPS
Who can guard Dirk? Nick Collison? Jeff Green? Kevin Durant? You know who covered him the best last year? Malik Rose. Obviously Malik had a ton of experience doing it, but he did a fantastic job. He got up under Dirk a bunch and forced him to fade on every single jumper. Dirk couldn’t clear his elbows cleanly for a jumper and it affected him. I think Collison could have success, but I also think Serge Ibaka might do alright against the German. Ibaka has athleticism, length and some pretty good instincts. Plus, I’d love for Serge to get some experience guarding Dirk for, you know, the future.
Shawn Marion is a quality defender and could give Kevin Durant some issues, mainly because Marion is bigger than he looks and also plays pretty physical. Lately the Mavs have been starting both J.J. Barea and Jason Kidd together, so it’ll be interesting who gets what tonight between Thabo and Russell Westbrook. I’d imagine Thabo would go on Kidd, but I’d also imagine Kidd would guard Westbrook. Who knows.
Obviously the Dallas bench is loaded with Howard coming off it and Mr. Sixth Man, Jason Terry. Drew Gooden and Kris Humphries are the two big men Dallas has off the pine, and with Erick Dampier starting, I’d say if there was anywhere Dallas was thin, it’s their front line. The Thunder’s going to need production from Nick Collison and James Harden tonight to at least stay somewhat close to what Dallas’s bench puts up.
Again, I don’t want to overhype and overvalue this game because then it would feel like a letdown if OKC loses. And in a way, it will be. The TV, the team all wearing Kevin Durant’s new shoes, the crowd will have rally towels, the importance of staying above even – it just seems like the team should have a hunger tonight. Like I said, sometimes you can sense when OKC is overmatched. I don’t feel that way at all about Dallas. The Mavs are every bit as talented as the Nuggets, but I just see OKC matching up well with Dallas.
Tip at 7:00 CST. Go ESPN.
dylan :@The
DON is SO hot right now
Hahah, what a great scouting report. Any other nuggets?
http://goodbyemailbox.com/blog/uploaded_images/mcnugget.jpg
@david
Why is it amazing? The team was 20-30 down the stretch with the additions of Krstic and Thabo, and they added a nice piece in Harden in the off-season. I would agree that it is certainly an encouraging as to what might be down the road, but the talent is there. This is what I was talking about earlier when I said some people are content with where the team is right now.
The offense is a problem, and I don't think the overriding problem is personnel. Either Westbrook isn't getting it done (which may or may not be a coaching issue) or the current offense is holding back the talent. My complaints and frustrations are not with the record or effort of the team. This has been a rough schedule, and 12-12 at this point is certainly nothing to shake a stick at. But the stagnant offense is a problem, and it's costing them winnable games.
I wonder what could have been with that 24th pick. so many choices.
Terrible terrible game tonight. The ball was not moving on the offense end, and of course nobody could guard Dirk... This game gave me the feeling that the it was the last year bad Thunder team that showed up today. The only thing is, the last year bad Thunder team at least would fight for everything even though they lost but tonight's team looked like there was no pride at all. Just letting the Mavericks to run over them.
KD was terribly cold, 4 out of 18... Hats off to the good D that Mavericks put on him the whole night. Was that because he's due for a cold night? I know even Kobe had a cold night of 7 out 24 for 16 pts but he had a broken finger and the stomach flu. Then he put up 42 pts and 39 pts the two games after.
Westbrook of course did what Westbrook like to do again, trying to be the hero instead of moving the ball and help the team to create space when the offense was not flowing smooth. However, it seems like he doesn't understand that the offense is not flowing smooth all because he is not moving the ball. He is somewhat fast but he is not fast enough to beat all 5 guys all at once especially his dribbling isn't great to start with. He can jump really good as a point guard but he is just gonna get block everytime if there is no spacing (usually he lose the ball in the tight space when he jump into defenders). However, he doesn't understand any of that. Man, I am really losing faith to watch the Thunder's game if he keep going like that.
I actually thought that coach Brook should had kept Livingston on the floor longer because at least the ball was moving while he was on the floor. Coach Brook should put some presure on Westbrook so he doesn't run out of control.
Green was playing pretty good, but for some reason I just don't feel that he can carry the team. And he kind of dispeared in the 2nd half.
Harden seemed like he was doing good, but I found he was playing too much one on one ball lately. I remember he used to create some very good passes before but in the last few games he was not doing that much.
The last thing was the free throw. What happened to the best free throw team so far? 60.9%? Wow... That's just ugly...
Just got home from the game. What happened? I think the shoes made me dizzy and I lost consciousness for most of the game...
@david
Your are right, we could have the nets record.
Can we just take a step back and reflect on the fact that it is pretty amazing that we are currently 12-12 this year. This was definitely as disappointing loss - on national TV no less - but we have to remember how young this team is. Dallas is not a chump team. Neither are Denver or Cleveland.
He's shooting over 50% from the field and 49% from 3pt. Unbelievable. AND they have Tyreke Evans. What a draft for the Kings.
We coulda already had him right!
@justin
The Kings should send us one of their shooters.. this Omri Casspi is smooth with the three.
a true post scorer would improve our 3 point shooting by a ton, that's something to consider.
when the ball goes inside, no perimeter defenders have to drop down, because we have no threat in the paint
@Steve
I couldn't agree more. Scott Brooks is clearly a very very good motivator and probably a pretty good defensive coach, but the offense relies too much on a few ideas and good, well-coached teams are able to take those ideas away and it doesn't seem like there's a lot to fall back on.
Westbrook looked like Earl Watson tonight. Hopefully it doesn't continue.
The problem as I see it is either Westbrook or the coaching. The ball doesn't move on offense. The record is getting old. Teams are letting the bad shooters take 3s and clogging the lane to cut down on driving opportunities. Durant is getting doubled, resulting in a lot of turnovers. Westbrook looks handcuffed. It's a mess.
The coaching staff is getting a free pass because people are content with the improvement the team has made over last season. In reality, there is enough talent on the roster to be in the playoffs this season. Whatever the problem is, the offense needs to be tweaked going forward.
Dear Santa C/O the thunder
All I want for the thunder is
A Center
Improved Three point shooting
and peace on earth
Wait what? Durant had 32 and 10 against Denver and 29 and 5 against Cleveland. His turnovers are clearly an issue, but he's the only one showing up on offense in these games. Tonight wasn't his night, especially with the way Dallas had their entire mission on defense to limit him.
Anyway, these last three games showed that the Thunder aren't going to get any calls against the league's elite so they have to be that much better. It also shows that the Thunder give up a little when they get down late, as the Cleveland and the Dallas game both got a little out of hand late, even though they were close all game.
I hate to say it, but it also shows that Westbrook doesn't know how to initiate a half court offense. it seemed like he would think about passing for 2 seconds before deciding to put his head down towards the basket or pull up for a jumper. That was where the offense really started to break down at the end, when RW tried to take over.
We won't win many games when we have two players taking 37 shots and making 10 of them. When it's not Durant having a bad night (he doesn't have many) it's Jeff Green. We have no consistent scoring, period, outside of Kevin Durant. I like what I see from Green the last few games on offense even though he disappears, but other than that there's been nothing consistent at all. I'd like a veteran off the bench that can score, a backup veteran point guard that can shoot. Dallas was playing 95 feet off Livingston and Westbrook.
There's been come really bad shot selection tonight. This game has also shown the Thunder's pressing need for a scoring threat off the bench. I'm the driver of the Kelenna Azubuike bandwagon. Anyone want on?
At least Ibaka has played well. He should be getting more minutes, possibly even the starting center job.
@The DON is SO hot right now
Hahah, what a great scouting report. Any other nuggets?
I hope this fizzling in the 4th qtr doesnt become a trend
The DON is SO hot right now :
This current stretch has without a doubt proven that there is a significant gap between KD and players like melo, lebron, dirk
Uh, yeah. Years of experience.
This current stretch has without a doubt proven that there is a significant gap between KD and players like melo, lebron, dirk
@justin
Agreed.
Thundercat :
What has happen to this team in the last three games!
We played some really good teams.
Great D by Green.
@Thundercat
It's just an indication of how far Kevin Durant has to go. He was good against Denver, but he was invisible in the second half against Cleveland, and he's been bad in this one. Meanwhile, LeBron, Carmelo, and Dirk brought it when they had to.
Part of this has to do with our team having nobody else to turn to consistently. Jeff Green has been invisible on offense after the first, Russ has been uneven. Harden's been trying but that's not really his thing.
3-17.
What has happen to this team in the last three games!
Lebron, Carmelo, Dirk. have killed us in the last three games.
Kevin Durant has been horrible on offense. He's not missing easy shots, he's taking bad ones.
Since when did we stop getting calls?
Geez Dirk. 12 of 15 is a bit much and the defense seems to be pretty solid on him overall.
If the shots are not falling. and where not rebounding well, why not
drive to the basket and get a foul.
I do not like how Kevin Durant is forcing offense..
The defense has been excellent tonight. James Harden has got the right idea and we're seeing more stuff to the basket.
Hopefully we can pull it out because we've had some great defensive possessions.
I love how our court looks, I think it is the best looking in the NBA (a little biased, I know.)
I won a pair of these creamsicle KD2s tonight, yessssssssssssssssssssssss
Apologies for the site being down. Some serious server overload tonight.
Offense is putrid.
Russ can't resist sometimes LOL
I may be wrong, but for some reason KD looks lethargic and unmotivated to me tonight
Krstic is feeling it.
Jeff Green has looked great on offense.
WESTBROOK with the put-back over Dirk!!!! LOVE IT!!
Yeah I'm not saying it's a bad move, but it's funny because Russ looked like he really wants to shoot. So conflicted.
justin :
Dallas is playing about 80 feet off Russ on defense, they are daring him.
As they should. It's commons sense vs. Westbrick
justin :
Dallas is playing about 80 feet off Russ on defense, they are daring him.
If I was Carlisle I would play off RW also; dare him to shoot and he will shoot it....and us right out of the game.
Harden looks normal to me, he's just not a quick guy.
He has to hit those threes though.
Two more good finds by westbrook
Dallas is playing about 80 feet off Russ on defense, they are daring him.
Anyone else notice how immobile Harden looks tonight with that knee wrap? Something's not right