The Smoking Cuban
FanSided

Preview: Mavericks Host Westbrook, Thunder

By Jay Knodell

facebooktwitterreddit

The Dallas Mavericks are coming off of a much needed victory over a Western Conference playoff team, and will look to build on that win by taking care of Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder at home Monday night.

The Thunder, without reigning MVP Kevin Durant and working with several new pieces acquired at the trade deadline, are coming in winners of two in a row and holding a 5-2 record thus far in March.

For those of you living under a rock for the majority of 2015, most of their recent success can be attributed to the relentless play of Westbrook.

He’s recorded a triple-double in six of his last nine games. And he’s a total of 10 assists and nine rebounds shy of 11 in a row. Here’s what he’s averaged in his seven March games: 35.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 2.4 steals. If that doesn’t have you quivering maybe this tidbit from Alex Kennedy will:

You get the picture. Westbrook is on another level right now, and Rajon Rondo won’t be able to slow him down alone. It’ll need to be a team effort, with everybody’s head on a swivel. Westbrook is an armed projectile, ready to launch himself at the rim at a moment’s notice. Keep him out of the lane, and shooting jump shots, and you might have a chance.

Westbrook connects on 59% of his shots within three feet, but shoots just 35.7% from 10-feet out.

Obviously the Thunder aren’t as dangerous with Kevin Durant in street clothes, but it’ll also be a lot easier for Dallas to win the game if Serge Ibaka joins him as a multimillion dollar cheerleader. Ibaka has missed OKC’s last two games with knee soreness. At the time of posting no word on Ibaka’s readiness for Monday’s game had been announced. We’ll keep you updated on his status.

If he can’t go the Thunder will again rely on Enes Kanter to pick up the slack. Kanter has actually started all 11 games he’s played with Oklahoma City, averaging 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds. He went for 18 points and 18 rebounds Sunday against the Chicago Bulls in their 109-100 victory.

As for Dallas, they’ll need another big game from Chandler Parsons. Since returning from his seven-game absence due to an ankle injury Parsons has averaged 17 points on 57% shooting from the field overall and 60% from three-point range. He’ll need to take advantage of the Thunder’s defensively questionable wing rotation.

Monta Ellis could be poised for a big game, too. His emergence from a woeful shooting slump coincides with Parsons’ return. In his last three games he’s averaging 20.7 points on 52% shooting. He’s also hit five of his eleven three-point attempts in that span. Having Parsons back to spread the floor and take some of the pressure off really helps Ellis, and it appears as if his nagging hip injury is finally getting better. With Dion Waiters checking him he should have no problem getting good looks, he just has to knock them down.

The two teams have split their season series so far, with the Mavericks winning by five in late December and the Thunder beating Dallas by 15 in the first game after the All-Star break.

This third game of the four-game series tips off at 7:30 CT. It should be a good one, make sure to set your DVRs if you can’t catch it live.

Next: Game Grades for Big Win Over Clippers

More from The Smoking Cuban

Home/Mavs News