The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday in the American Airlines Center. This is sure to be an epic offensive battle, with star power galore, and the lack of defense that is being played in Dallas this season.
Oklahoma City is off to a fast start, owning the third-best record in the Western Conference (12-6) a full game up on the fourth-seed Mavericks (11-7).
Dallas enters this game on the second night of a back-to-back, less than 24 hours removed from dropping a clunker to Memphis (5-13) on their home floor, the Mavs will welcome in the Thunder to the AAC.
Luka Doncic's status for this game against Oklahoma City is up in the air, as he missed the Grizzlies tilt due to the birth of his first child, a baby girl named Gabriela. Due to the quick turnover, the earliest the Mavericks will submit a status report for this game will be at 1:30 local time.
Against Memphis, Kyrie Irving scored just 10 points, hauled in five rebounds, and dished out five assists, but shot just 20 percent from the floor in an alarming 35 minutes of action. A fairly heavy workload for the front end of a back-to-back.
Kyrie Irving offers high praise for the OKC Thunder ahead of their matchup in Dallas
Despite the workload, Kyrie Irving still alluded to playing in this game on Saturday against Oklahoma City. In fact, when asked about the young Thunder, he gave a glowing review.
Mavs’ Kyrie Irving speaks on frustrating Thunder’s @ChetHolmgren before Saturday’s match up:
— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford) December 2, 2023
“They are a good team they have shown it. Night in and night out I know their record is what it is, but they are going to be a team to be reckon w in the Western Conference.”
“Just… pic.twitter.com/oKnrXKsuCG
"They are a good team," Irving said "They show it night in and night out...Just looking forward to seeing them up close. Not only Chet but ." the superstar guard continued.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will have their hands full defending the future hall of famer, but between Lu Dort and Cason Wallace on the perimeter funneling the action into Chet Holmgren at the rim, Kyrie Irving will provide a great litmus test for a top-ten defense in the NBA.
Rave reviews from NBA Superstars will be commonplace as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to play at an MVP level and Chet Holmgren proves to have a historically good rookie season.