Thunder at Mavericks
Russell Westbrook continues to pace Oklahoma City while Kevin Durant is sidelined and the point guard seeks another strong outing when the Thunder visit the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. Westbrook had 36 points and 11 rebounds as Oklahoma City registered a 109-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday to move into eighth place in the Western Conference by one game over the New Orleans Pelicans. Dallas is in a three-way tie for fifth in the West and clobbered the Los Angeles Clippers 129-99 on Friday.
The trouncing of the Clippers was one of Dallas’ top efforts of the season and it came two days after being blasted by 33 points by the Cleveland Cavaliers. “I wanted to see how our guys were going to respond the following day,” Mavericks center Tyson Chandler told reporters. “And I thought all of our guys responded on the practice court. You could tell guys were kind of fed up with the way things are going.” The teams have split two meetings this season.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), Dallas (FSN Southwest)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (37-29): Westbrook only had six assists against Chicago to fall short of his ninth double-double of the season. Still, he received plenty of compliments after the contest, particularly for moving the ball to Anthony Morrow for a key 3-pointer in the final minutes. “He has picked up his leadership a lot as the years have gone on,” forward Nick Collison told reporters. “He is much more mature and every game, he is trying to figure out what he can do to get the whole team playing well.”
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (42-25): Coach Rick Carlisle and point guard Rajon Rondo are no longer at odds and Rondo is making more of the play calls, and drew praise from Carlisle after the rout of the Clippers. “He’s really developed a good sense for our team – when to just push it, when to get into something,” Carlisle told reporters. “He really understands the guys that he’s playing with.” Rondo had seven assists in 22 minutes and he shared similar thoughts as Carlisle, saying, “I think this is the best I’ve been since I’ve been here as far as the play calling.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder halted a three-game skid against the Mavericks by producing a 104-89 victory on Feb. 19.
2. Oklahoma City F Serge Ibaka (knee) is expected to miss his third straight game.
3. Dallas F Al-Farouq Aminu (shoulder) will likely his miss second consecutive contest.