Oklahoma City Thunder (35-16, third in the Western Conference) vs. Dallas Mavericks (29-23, eighth in the Western Conference)
Dallas; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Thunder -4.5; over/under is 38.5
BOTTOM LINE: Dallas heads into a matchup against Oklahoma City as winners of three straight games.
The Mavericks have gone 18-18 against Western Conference opponents. Dallas ranks eighth in the league with 15.1 fast break points per game led by Kyrie Irving averaging 3.5.
The Thunder are 21-12 in conference play. Oklahoma City is seventh in the Western Conference with 27.3 assists per game led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 6.6.
The Mavericks make 47.6% of their shots from the field this season, which is 2.6 percentage points higher than the Thunder have allowed to their opponents (45.0%). The Thunder average 13.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.2 more makes per game than the Mavericks allow.
The teams square off for the second time this season. The Thunder won the last matchup 126-120 on Dec. 3. Jalen Williams scored 23 points to help lead the Thunder to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Daniel Gafford is averaging 10.9 points, eight rebounds and 2.2 blocks for the Mavericks. Luka Doncic is averaging 34.6 points over the last 10 games for Dallas.
Chet Holmgren is scoring 16.9 points per game and averaging 7.5 rebounds for the Thunder. Aaron Wiggins is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Oklahoma City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mavericks: 5-5, averaging 117.6 points, 39.8 rebounds, 26.2 assists, 5.7 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 49.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 121.0 points per game.
Thunder: 7-3, averaging 114.8 points, 42.7 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 8.2 steals and 7.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.7 points.
INJURIES: Mavericks: Dante Exum: day to day (knee), Dereck Lively II: day to day (nose).
Thunder: Gordon Hayward: day to day (calf), Isaiah Joe: day to day (sternum).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
