After an even longer rest, the Oklahoma City Thunder will take to their home court once again to take on the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. The first round series between the Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers took six games, while the Thunder started the playoffs with a sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Battle of I-35 is going to be incredibly entertaining for this matchup. Two MVP candidates who might hear their names were called Wednesday when the award was announced. Two solid defenders and a wealth of depth support the team's star power.
This matchup could easily be six or seven games deep. The Thunder will be taking their first big punch in this series, and it will be interesting to see how they respond.
Reporting an injury
Thunder:
There are no injuries to report.
Heretic:
Possibly Luka Doncic (knee)
Maxi Kleber, OUT (shoulder)
Olivier Maxence Prosper, OUT (ankle)
Luka Doncic being on the injury report makes sense regarding his current knee issues. They bothered him in the first round series against the Clippers and could hinder his play in this series as well. Given the nature of playoff basketball, he's going to make it through the playoffs and could be listed as available, but it might affect his performance on the court a little bit.
With Kleber's injury, the Thunder will have to prepare for a different lineup than the Mavericks normally do. Injuries will impact this series on the Mavericks side.
updated odds
This matchup will probably take 6-7 games to determine a winner. As such, it's destined to be a close game, and it's hard to imagine either team winning their home games by a landslide. The Thunder are currently the favorites to win Game 1 over the Mavericks by 3.5 points.
This series is going to be long and it all starts tonight and it will be a hard fought battle for both sides. A close matchup will set the tone and make for an interesting watch.
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