The OKC Thunder march on with their season as they get a much-needed December homestand. The Oklahoma City Thunder welcomes the Dallas Mavericks to downtown Oklahoma City in the Paycom Center. The Mavericks are not off to the hot-start they wanted under new head coach Jason Kidd. Their defense continues to be lackluster, their log jam of centers struggle to rebound, and tonight they will be without their star Luka Doncic.
The OKC Thunder are looking to rebound from a loss to the Lakers on Friday, and will do so at full strength, every player on the roster is at the disposal of Mark Daigneault in this tilt and he will have the best player on the hardwood in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
This is not Kidd and the Mavs trying to pull a fast one and sneak in some rest for their star, Doncic is projected to miss multiple games notably tonight and tomorrow the second leg of a Dallas back-to-back against the Charlotte Hornets. The Mavericks will also be without Willie Cauley-Stein and list Sterling Brown as questionable.
OKC Thunder face off with Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night
Despite the vastly different expectations for these two organizations this year, and the different records with Dallas just a game below .500 the Mavericks are no strangers to losing games they should win. The Mavs are 3-7 in their last ten games, 6-7 on the road, and break-even at home. The team currently sits eighth in the Western Conference has lost games to the Pelicans, a Ja Morant-less Grizzlies team, the Pacers all in the last two weeks.
The OKC Thunder are 13th in the Western Conference having just recently snapped their eight-game losing streak, bringing their record to 2-8 in their last ten contest. The 8-17 Thunder are 4-8 in the Paycom Center, with six of their wins coming against Western Conference foes.
They have one fewer win than the 12th seed Spurs, three games out in the win column from the Play-in Timberwolves while being tied for the worst record (wins wise) in the Western Conference.
The OKC Thunder have a shot to win this game without facing off with Luka Doncic, and they will roll out their typical starters in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, Darius Bazley, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
Drop your predictions for this contest down below, and check back after the game for the recap!