Thunder-Struck: Can Mavs Solve OKC in Game 2?
The Oklahoma City Thunder look for their sixth straight win to start the 2024 NBA playoffs when they face the visiting Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinals series on Thursday night. Top-seeded Oklahoma City swept its first-round series with the New Orleans Pelicans and then took Game 1 of this series on Tuesday night, 117-95.
Dating back to the regular season, the Thunder have won 10 in a row, which is why they are among the top teams in the NBA Finals odds in most sportsbooks. Oklahoma City is a young team, but it is overwhelming opponents with its depth.
Dallas lost a Game 1 in a series for the fifth straight series, so it is used to playing from behind. The fifth-seeded Mavericks rallied to tie two of those series and went on to win three of them, so Dallas is certainly not in a hole it can’t dig out of just yet.
Mavericks vs Thunder Game Information
- Game: Mavericks (0-1) vs Thunder (1-0)
- Date/Time: Thursday, May 9, 9:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
- Mavericks vs Thunder Live Stream: NBA Game Pass
The Thunder won three of the four regular-season matchups with the Mavericks this season, with the winning team scoring at least 126 points in each one. The last two postseason meetings between these franchises came in the first round, with Oklahoma City coming out on top each time (2012, 2016).
Looking at the NBA odds for Game 2, Oklahoma City is giving five points to Dallas. The moneyline odds have the Thunder listed at -195 to win while the Mavericks are +165 to pull the upset.
The over/under for Game 2 has been set at 218½ points, with -110 odds on both sides of the wager.
Mavericks vs Thunder Head-to-Head
Mavericks vs Thunder Odds and Spreads
Mavericks vs Thunder Betting Trends
- Oklahoma City is 4-0 ATS in its last four games.
- Dallas is 1-6 ATS in its last seven playoff games as an underdog of five to 10.5 points.
- The under is 6-0 in the Mavericks’ last six games as an underdog.
- The Thunder are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games played in May.
- The total has gone over in seven of Oklahoma City’s last nine games against Dallas.
Mavericks Need More From Doncic
It may have been a knee injury that seemed to bother him in the first half, but Luka Doncic was not himself in Game 1, and that’s not good for the Mavericks. The league’s leading scorer in the regular season at 33.9 points per game, Doncic had just 19 points in Game 1, his lowest scoring output this postseason.
Doncic shot just 6 of 19 from the floor in the Game 1 loss, including 1 of 8 from 3-point range. He did contribute nine assists, six rebounds and two steals, but he also had five turnovers and just didn’t look like himself throughout the contest. He also didn’t feel like discussing his performance after the loss.
“Who cares,” Doncic said. “We lost. We just got to move onto the next one. We’ve got to be better.”
Dallas as a team didn’t shoot well, hitting just 39.3% of its field-goal attempts, including 34.3% accuracy from 3-point range and 68% from the free-throw line. It also turned the ball over 15 times and had foul problems throughout, sending Oklahoma City to the line 22 times in the first half.
If the Mavericks are going to tie this series, they have to be more careful with the ball against the opportunistic Thunder defense. And it has to shoot the ball better when presented with open shots.
One bright spot was the play of center Daniel Gafford, who had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Dallas was outrebounded by the Thunder, 52-39, including 16-11 on the offensive glass.
Thunder Depth Overwhelming
As usual, guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the offense for the Thunder in Game 1, scoring 29 points to go with nine rebounds, nine assists and two blocks. But Oklahoma City’s depth continues to be a major asset for the team, with four other players scoring in double figures and seven players total hitting at least two 3-pointers in the victory.
The team’s depth was also shown on the defensive end as the Mavericks could never get into a good rhythm because of fresh defenders constantly being in the game for coach Mark Daigneault. The best of those defenders, Lu Dort, did much of his work shutting down Doncic, constantly hounding the All-Star and never letting him get comfortable.
“He’s just a warrior,” Daigneault said of Dort. “Brings the juice every single night. Doncic is a really hard matchup and a great player that didn’t have his best pitch tonight. He’s going to play better than this. Lu made it hard on him. I thought our team made it hard on him.”
Oklahoma City must continue to bring that kind of defensive pressure against both Doncic and guard Kyrie Irving, not allowing them to take over games like they did against the LA Clippers in the first round. The Thunder were able to cause turnovers in Game 1 that turned into easy baskets as well.
No shortage of heart & hustle ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/boH81VoF5a
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 8, 2024
The team was connected on both ends of the floor, registering a franchise playoff-record 29 assists in the game. Chet Holmgren contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while Jalen Williams scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth to hold off any Dallas thoughts of a rally.
Thunder Continue to Roll
Dallas just didn’t look like the same team in Game 1 as it was in the first round, and much of that had to do with the Thunder’s defense. Oklahoma City is playing with a ton of confidence right now and playing as a team on both ends of the floor.
Unless Doncic can turn things around completely from Game 1, Oklahoma City is going to come away with another victory on Thursday night. Our NBA picks for Game 2 of this series are for the Thunder to win and cover the five-point spread in a game that goes over.
Bet $200, Get $450 Bonus on first deposit! Power up your picks!
Questions of the Day
Who won the regular-season series between the Mavericks and Thunder?
Oklahoma City won the season series in the regular season, defeating Dallas in three of their four matchups.
