Mavericks at Thunder
The Dallas Mavericks attempt to sweep the home-and-home set and clinch the season series on Monday as they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have won 12 of their 16 home games. Dennis Smith Jr. put the Mavericks ahead on Sunday with a driving layup and forced a miss by All-Star guard Paul George in the final seconds as Dallas won for just the second time in nine contests.
“This is what being a big-time player is all about,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters of Smith, the ninth overall pick in the 2017 draft. “You make the go-ahead basket at one end and guard the best player at the other end.” Rookie Luka Doncic scored a team-high 25 points and Smith added 14 while Dallas held former MVP Russell Westbrook to 4-of-22 shooting and nine points, causing Carlisle to tell reporters: “Knowing (Westbrook), I’m not looking forward to (Monday) night.” George, who was battling a quadriceps injury, finished with 36 points and his late miss was followed by Westbrook clanging a 3-point attempt off the rim as the buzzer sounded in the setback - the Thunder’s third in eight games. “We had some self-inflicted wounds,” Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan told reporters after his team was outscored 10-2 to end the game. “We’re battling to score coming down the stretch and we’re fouling them and they’re shooting free throws.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), FS Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (17-18): Doncic is averaging 25.8 points over his last four games and has gone 11-for-21 from 3-point range in the last two as he continues adding to his Rookie of the Year resume. Harrison Barnes scored 16 points on Sunday and is averaging 20 over his last four contests while Smith has registered 14 in each of his two games since returning from a wrist injury that forced him to miss six. DeAndre Jordan has registered eight double-doubles in his last 10 contests and connected on 14-of-16 shots over his last three games.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (22-13): Westbrook missed all eight of his 3-point attempts on Sunday after making 3-of-7 and hitting 17-of-29 shots overall while scoring 40 points in Friday's 118-102 victory over Phoenix. George has been on a roll this month, recording at least 30 points in eight of his last 12 games while averaging 32.7 during that stretch, and leads the team in scoring (26.6 points). Dennis Schroder is averaging 19.5 points over his last two games and Jerami Grant has reached double figures in nine straight contests after recording 10 on Sunday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Oklahoma City F Patrick Patterson scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting on Sunday for his first double-figure effort of the season.
2. Dallas G Wesley Matthews, who is averaging 14.3 points, has missed two games with a foot injury and is questionable for Monday.
3. The Mavericks also beat the Thunder 111-96 at home on Nov. 10 behind 22 points from Doncic.