With the dust officially settled following an intense final day of Group Play Tuesday night, the OKC Thunder find themselves advancing in the league's illustrious in-season tournament.
After besting the Utah Jazz handily by a final score of 133-106, Oklahoma City wrapped up round one play with the best record in West Group B at 3-1.
The ball club had to win their finale and, subsequently, have the Phoenix Suns lose their matchup against the San Antonio Spurs to move on to the knockout stage. Fortunately, that's exactly what wound up happening and, as a result, the Thunder stay alive in their quest for the illustrious NBA Cup.
Now, with their ticket officially punched for round two, what should this OKC team be preparing themselves for?
Who will Thunder play in NBA Cup knockout stage?
Dallas heads into the knockout stage of the tournament as a wildcard after losing the head-to-head battle with Group C rival, the Golden State Warriors (both went 3-1).
Because of this outcome, the Thunder will be playing host to the Mavericks on December 10 for a do-or-die rematch of the 2024 Western Conference Semifinals.
What bodes well for both ball clubs is the fact that they'll be coming into the Quarterfinal bout with two full days of rest, as their final games before tip-off are scheduled for Saturday night.
Thunder's record against the Mavericks this season
Despite being the top seed in the Western Conference standings at 16-5, the Thunder are 0-1 when playing against the Mavericks this season.
Their November 17 contest was one where both parties were coming in at sub-100 percent. Dallas was without franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic while Oklahoma City was found without budding star big Chet Holmgren and was still without the likes of Isaiah Hartenstein.
Kyrie Irving's 23 points, accompanied by six of his fellow running mates dropping double-digit scoring feats, proved too much for the undermanned and undersized Thunder, as they ultimately lost by a final score of 121-119 despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (36 points and 8 assists) and Jalen Williams' (27 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) best efforts.
What will happen if Thunder beat Mavericks in knockout stage?
Should the Thunder exact revenge over the Mavericks for both their ouster from last year's postseason and last month's demise, they would advance to the tournament's semifinal stage and square off against the winner of the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors matchup.
The game would be held on Saturday, December 14 out in Las Vegas.