Thunder vs. Mavericks Preview
DALLAS, TX (AP) – Now that the Dallas Mavericks know Caron Butler will likely miss the rest of the season, the need to have Dirk Nowitzki healthy has only increased.
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His status for Thursday night is uncertain as the Mavericks go for a season sweep of the Oklahoma City Thunder at American Airlines Center.
Nowitzki has missed the last five games with a sprained right knee, including Tuesday’s 84-81 victory over Portland. The win came hours after Butler, the Mavericks’ third-leading scorer, underwent knee surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right knee He’s not expected to return this season.
According to NBA odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the N/A point spread favorites for Thursday’s game against the N/A.
Nowitzki, averaging 24.1 points and 7.4 rebounds, remains day to day. He last saw action in a 103-93 victory over the Thunder on Dec. 27, playing 12 minutes before being injured.
The most games Nowitzki has missed in a regular season for Dallas (26-8) was six during the 2001-02 campaign.
“Hopefully we get him back soon,” Jason Terry told the Mavericks’ official website.
Terry has taken Butler’s spot in the starting lineup the last two games and scored 18 points in each – 12 in the fourth quarter Tuesday – and the Mavs won both. They lost the previous three games without Nowitzki.
DeShawn Stevenson has stepped up to score 39 points in the two victories after averaging 4.3 during the three-game skid.
Still, the Mavericks have averaged 88.8 points in Nowitzki’s absence – about nine below their season average – while trying to improve on defense. They are giving up 91.6 points per game in the last five as their opponents have shot 29.9 percent from 3-point range.
“We’re a team of good individual players, but we’re a team first,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Right now, the challenge for us is to get better defensively. That’s gonna help trigger a lot of good things for us. And that’s gonna be the biggest part of being successful with where we’re at at this moment.”
Poor defense has plagued the Thunder (23-13), who have lost four of seven while allowing an average of 102.7 points on 48.7 percent shooting.
Oklahoma City is looking to avoid a season-high third straight loss following a 101-74 defeat at San Antonio on Saturday and a 110-105 loss at Memphis on Tuesday.
After setting season lows for points and field-goal percentage (32.9) against the Spurs, the Thunder bounced back to shoot 51.3 percent Tuesday only to let the Grizzlies shoot 51.2 percent in one of their best offensive performances of the season.
“We couldn’t get important stops that we wanted to late in the game,” coach Scott Brooks said.
Russell Westbrook had 28 points after scoring a season-low eight against the Spurs, and Kevin Durant also scored 28 after matching his season low with 16 on Saturday. The Thunder are 10-2 when Durant scores at least 30, but one of those losses came when he had 32 in a 111-103 defeat to Dallas on Nov. 24.
Both of Oklahoma City’s losses to the Mavs this season came at home, but they won their last visit to Dallas after losing nine straight there.
The Thunder, though, have lost three straight on the road and have been outrebounded in four of five overall. They gave up 12 offensive boards to Memphis and 11 to the Spurs. “In an NBA season you’re going to have some highs and some lows,” Brooks said. “We’ve lost two in a row and our guys have been resilient all year. They bounce back.”
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