After Dallas' 126-119 loss to the Thunder on Thursday night, it's very easy to see why the Mavericks can't take Oklahoma City's young roster lightly. Don't get me wrong, Dallas has a sizable advantage over the Thunder when the Mavericks are fully healthy, but as we saw last night, the Thunder are very consistent, with perimeter shooting and defense. Backing them up is an entourage of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams.
Dallas was without Luka Doncic last night as the young superstar deals with a hamstring injury. The fact that Dallas stayed within striking distance of the Thunder without Doncic is commendable offensively, but unfortunately there are no emotional wins at this juncture in the season. Gilgeous-Alexander was relentless in drawing mismatches with Dallas' defenders last night, but he's one of the few players in the league with the pace to match Doncic offensively.
The Mavericks got a front row seat to how versatile Oklahoma City's lineup is in last night's game. That's because nearly everyone in the main rotation can shoot, playmake, and defend behind Gilgeous-Alexander. Oklahoma City will be a tough first-round matchup for anyone in the Western Conference, especially considering Jaylen Williams and Holmgren are already elevated to the No. 2 and No. 3 options.
As we saw in Dallas' only win of three games against the Thunder this season, the Mavericks have the ability to use their physicality inside to cause problems for Oklahoma City. In Dallas' first game after the trade deadline in which P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford both played, Dallas destroyed the Thunder in the paint. So it wouldn't be surprising if Dallas had a competitive playoff series against the Thunder, especially if Doncic plays. Healthy, Washington didn't shoot as insanely bad from the field as it did last night.
But last night, there was definitely a queue for Dallas to move out of the No. 8 seed as a way to avoid facing the currently No. 1 seed Thunder in the first round. This is because the Thunder are too deep and stable overall to be an ideal Round 1 team. against Dallas.
