Thunder at Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are locked in a three-way battle for one of the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference and can’t afford to drop many more home games along the way. The Mavericks will get a tough test in their own building when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. Dallas is halfway through an eight-game homestand but is just 2-2 so far with a pair of overtime losses and a trio of playoff contenders on the way.
The Thunder crushed the Denver Nuggets 117-96 on Monday despite Russell Westbrook sitting out after his latest right knee scare. Westbrook, who had an MRI come back clean over the weekend, is expected to return Tuesday to help Oklahoma City keep pace with the San Antonio Spurs atop the West. The Spurs own a two-game cushion over the Thunder. The Mavericks secured an impressive 109-86 victory at Oklahoma City on March 16 with Westbrook sitting out, snapping seven-game regular-season losing streak in the series.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE THUNDER (52-18): Kevin Durant is chasing history with 35 straight games of at least 25 points, the longest streak since Michael Jordan went 40 straight during the 1986-87 campaign. Durant put up 27 against the Nuggets on Monday and got plenty of help from Reggie Jackson, who started in Westbrook’s spot and collected 16 points and 11 assists. Oklahoma City continues to give more minutes to veteran Caron Butler, who was picked up earlier this month after being bought out by the Milwaukee Bucks and scored his most since joining the team with 23 points against Denver.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (42-29): Dallas is having trouble putting 48 minutes together. The Mavericks trailed by 22 points in the first half before forcing overtime in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday and squandered a double-digit advantage before falling in the extra period to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. Dirk Nowitzki suffered through one of his worst games of the season against the Nets, totaling 10 points on 2-of-12 shooting. “It’s tough,” Nowitzki told reporters. “I kind of hesitated too much and I was kind of always waiting on the double team instead of playing my game.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks G Jose Calderon is questionable after getting hit in the mouth and leaving Sunday’s game early in the first quarter.
2. Durant was held to 26.5 points on 41.7 percent shooting in the first two meetings.
3. Dallas C Samuel Dalembert has grabbed double-digit rebounds in three straight games, including a season-high 15 Sunday.