Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Dallas Mavericks travel to play the OKC Thunder for the first time since last season’s Western Conference Semifinals. Dallas defeated the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night to be their healthiest since the start of the season.
PJ Washington returned after missing five games, coming off the bench for 19 minutes against the Spurs. Against a Thunder team that has to play small due to injuries, he will be crucial in this match. However, the Mavs will be without Luka Doncic, who is listed with a right knee contusion. He’s been dealing with injuries all season, and if he’s going up against the overly aggressive Lu Dort, it makes sense to rest him. They are also without Dante Exum after he underwent wrist surgery during training camp.
READ MORE: Mavericks at Thunder: Watch, TV, Time, Odds and Preview
Oklahoma City has almost no big men available as Isaiah Hartenstein is out with a hand fracture, Chet Holmgren is out with a hip fracture and Jaylin Williams is out with a hamstring strain. The injuries don’t stop for the Thunder, as they will also have to do without key defender Alex Caruso, who is out with a hip injury. First round Nikola Topic is out with a torn ACL that was discovered during the pre-draft process.
With all their big men out, the Thunder have started Jalen Williams at center, which has worked for them. They are 11-2 and have the league’s best defense by a wide margin. They will have a tough task against the Mavericks, who have found success by scoring in bunches in the paint.
Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford will need to be able to play in space. Otherwise, players like Maxi Kleber and PJ Washington will play center more often than normal. OKC’s defense has been great so far this season, both guarding the three and protecting the paint, but we’ll see if they can do that against a big Dallas team.
READ MORE: 3 takeaways from Mavericks’ bounce-back win over Wemby-Less Spurs
Keep up MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks during the 2024-2025 season
Follow MavericksGameday on Tweet and Austin Veazey Tweet
