The Oklahoma City Thunder put in a great effort at the end of the back-to-back set, and they will look to play well on the second side when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Oklahoma City dismantled the visiting Cavaliers 134-114 on Thursday night and now shares the best record (34-6) in the league with Cleveland.
The Thunder led the nationally televised one-sided contest with 42 points in the third quarter before pulling away.
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t impressed with the beating.
“It was a good game. We did the things we had to do,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “But for us, it was just another night of basketball, another night of competing together and letting the chips fall where they may. It was nothing special. It just happened on TV…. The result was the result.”
Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points and eight assists. It was his fifth outing of 40 or more this season.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was asked if Gilgeous-Alexander was sending a message with the team getting a rare opportunity to be on the national stage.
“No, he looked the same,” Daigneault said. “That’s why she’s so beautiful every night.”
Luguentz Dort also starred by setting a season-high 22 points, sinking six 3-pointers and serving as a defensive leader on a night when the Thunder held Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell to eight points on 3-of-15 shooting.
The Thunder have won four straight and 19 of 20. The NBA Cup final on December 17, when they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, does not count as a regular season contest.
On the other hand, the Mavericks are suffering from injuries and have lost three games in a row and eight of the last ten.
Luka Doncic has missed the past 11 games with a left calf strain, and Dallas is 3-8 without the player who finished third for MVP last season. Doncic has only played 22 games this season.
Kyrie Irving (back) has missed seven of the past nine games, including Dallas’ 119-116 road loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. He is listed as questionable for Friday’s game.
Mavericks big man Derek Lively II (ankle) will sit out the second straight game.
Daniel Gafford softened the blow of losing Lively by scoring a career-best 27 points on 12-of-13 shooting in New Orleans. He also collected 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Jaden Hardy added 21 points off the bench for the Mavericks, while Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 20.
Despite the recent letdown, Dallas is three games over .500 at the midpoint of its schedule and is feeling optimistic.
“You can’t give us grades,” Dinwiddie said. “I know the fans are probably up and down every game right now, but at the end of the day we have high goals when we’re healthy. Injuries are not an excuse. You have to go out there and fight and fight and prepare, and you. Watch guys step up every night in different roles every night, which is tough in and of itself.
“But it’s an imperfect distance. Until you get healthy and find out which nine (players) are going to play, what roles they’re going to have, if they put together 20 games, you’ll know what you really have. We think there’s something good that we don’t know.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd echoed similar sentiments.
“It was a really good game,” Kidd said. “Life wasn’t good, so he’s the next guy. We put ourselves in a position to win games. If we’re healthy, we believe we’re one of the best teams in the league. .”
The teams split the first two meetings this season. Dallas earned a 121-119 road win on Nov. 17 without Doncic, and Oklahoma City registered a 118-104 home win on Dec. 10. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 37.5 points over the two games.
–Field Level Media