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The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the youngest playoff teams in NBA history yet are 5-0 in the postseason as they host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Thursday with OKC again a solid favorite on the NBA odds.

We will also see a great all-star game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 27.6 points per game, against Luka Doncic and his 28.3 points per game.

Expert Pick Thunder -5 (total 218.5)
Score Prediction Thunder 115, Mavericks 108

Dallas Mavericks Betting Odds +125

The Mavericks simply looked a step slow in Game 1, losing 117-95 in Oklahoma City. Mavs star Luka Doncic, an MVP finalist, scored just 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting and had five turnovers. Lu Dort got most of the work guarding Doncic, with rookie Cason Wallace getting some of the action and 7-foot-1 center Chet Holmgren pestering him near the rim.

Doncic had three full days off between the end of the team’s first-round series and the start of the second-round matchup with Oklahoma City, but it looked like the right knee sprain he suffered early in the Clippers series was still bothering him on Tuesday. Doncic made 1-of-8 three-pointers in Game 1 and has now hit just 5-of-35 threes in his past four contests. That’s the worst three-point percentage (14.3%) for any player who has at least 30 attempts over a four-game postseason run in NBA history.

“It’s just hurting,” Doncic said of his knee. “Less mobility. Less explosiveness when I’m driving the ball. But it’s about the same. These days gave me a little more time to rest, a little more time to rehab.”

Kyrie Irving also was relatively quiet with 20 points and just three assists. After scoring just six points in the first half, Irving once again turned it on for the second half and scored nine points in the third, which included a contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer. He was consistently better in the second half during their first round series against the Clippers as well.

Daniel Gafford played well with 16 points and 11 rebounds in just 27 minutes. Gafford had a quiet first round series against the Clippers, but he was much better in the first game of this series. He recorded his first double-double of this postseason and swatted five shots, which was his highest block total in a game since March. But he also said it’s imperative that the Mavs be better rebounders against OKC, who won the rebounding battle, 52-39, including 16-11 on the offensive boards.

“It’s just effort at the end of the day on that one,” Gafford said. “They got at least three guys flying in trying to grab boards, so we just have to make sure we put bodies on guys that are trying to fly in, and pay attention to the personnel and just take that next step into really just keeping guys out of there.”

Guard Tim Hardaway Jr. had just two points on 1-for-5 shooting in 17 minutes. Hardaway returned to action following a four-game absence as a result of an ankle injury but clearly was not 100 percent.

The Mavericks and Thunder are squaring off in the postseason for the sixth time ever and the first since facing each other in 2016.

Oklahoma City Thunder Betting Odds -154

Oklahoma City was just spectacular defensively in Game 1, and Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Lu Dort, one of the league’s best perimeter defenders did his job well on Mavs star Luka Doncic in the blowout win.

“He’s just a warrior,” Daigneault said. “Brings the juice every single night. Doncic is a really hard matchup and a great player that didn’t have his best pitch tonight. He’s going to play better than this. Lu made it hard on him. I thought our team made it hard on him.”

The team that takes Game 1 goes on to win the series 75 percent of the time, going 460-151, including 6-2 in the first round this season. However, the Mavericks only need to look at their first round series to know that Game 1 success guarantees nothing. They were down 0-1 to the Clippers, then won four of the next five, which is reason for optimism going into Thursday’s Game 2.

But the Thunder are a different team from the Clippers as they showed in limiting the Mavericks to 39.3 percent shooting. In the second half, they made just 34 percent of their shots (14-of-41). OKC also won the rebounding battle 52-39. The Thunder pulled away in the third quarter after Daigneault subbed out Josh Giddey and put in Isaiah Joe. Giddey badly missed both of his 3s and the Thunder were minus-7 in his 17 minutes. After averaging 26.5 minutes (and playing well) in the first round, Giddey’s 17 minutes were the fewest he’s played in a game since December.

MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, just shy of his first career playoff triple-double. While it was a close contest for the first three quarters, Oklahoma City took over late, led by SGA.

Chet Holmgren, who finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, totaled 19 points and seven rebounds. He added three blocks and two steals. Holmgren is a big reason why the Thunder has yet to allow 100 points in a game so far during this postseason.

Jalen Williams’ streak of 19-plus points, five-plus rebounds, four-plus assists and one-plus steals in four consecutive games came to an end in Game 1 as he missed that by a point and a steal. Williams scored 10 straight points over 96 seconds in the final frame and finished the night with a block and only one turnover in 35 minutes. Off the bench, Aaron Wiggins had 16 points and five rebounds in easily his best game of the playoffs – Wiggins scored a combined 23 points in the first-round series against the Pelicans.

The Thunder demonstrated what has been the club’s edge so far this postseason by outscoring the Mavericks 22-12 in points off 16 turnovers. That leaves OKC at plus-52 in that category for the entire playoffs. The Thunder have won the last four games by a combined 83 points.

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Mavericks at Thunder Info

When: Thursday, 9:30 PM ET
Where: Paycom Center
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com

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