Thunder at Mavericks
THE STORY: If Kendrick Perkins has gotten over the embarrassment of being the subject of Blake Griffin’s latest poster, maybe he can help the Oklahoma City Thunder bounce back in Dallas on Wednesday. Perkins was on the receiving end of the highlight of the early season Monday, when Griffin jumped over him and dunked in his face in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Luckily for Perkins, the Mavericks don’t have anybody on the roster even approaching Griffin’s athleticism. What Dallas does have is stifling team defense and crunch-time scoring to rival any team in the league. The Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki back and are beginning to look more like the team that beat the Thunder in the Western Conference finals last spring. After winning with defense while Nowitzki was out, the Mavericks have turned the offense loose lately.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSSW (Dallas), FSOK (Oklahoma City), ESPN
ABOUT THE THUNDER (16-4): Oklahoma City had a four-game winning streak come to an end in Los Angeles despite 36 points from Kevin Durant. Other than Perkins getting posterized, the Thunder have not done much wrong so far. Since dropping their second meeting with Dallas on Jan. 2 and falling to Portland the following night, the Thunder have won 11 of their last 13 games by an average score of 101.3-93.5. Oklahoma City struggles defensively on the perimeter without guard Thabo Sefolosha, who usually draws the toughest assignment. Sefolosha sat out Monday and is day-to-day with a foot injury.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (14-8): Nowitzki has not been much of a factor since his return, scoring 10 points in each of the two games and going a combined 0-for-6 from 3-point range. What he has been is the tallest perimeter decoy on the court, opening up lanes for the likes of Vince Carter, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and Delonte West. Nowitzki’s two highest-scoring games this season came against the Thunder, with the Finals MVP totaling 55 points.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Oklahoma City’s 8-3 road record is the best in the NBA.
2. Durant has totaled 57 points in the two previous meetings.
3. Dallas has gone over 100 points in three straight games after reaching the century mark just four times in the first 19.