The Oklahoma City (28-12) defeated the Dallas Mavericks (22-18) benchwarmers 108-89 on Wednesday.
The Thunder came into this game as huge favorites and easily covered the spread. The reason they were favored by so much was that all five Dallas starters were rested after an overtime game on Tuesday. That left the Mavericks extremely shorthanded and they simply couldn’t score enough to win on Wednesday. In fact, they trailed by 23 points heading into the half and it never got much closer after that. Oklahoma City is one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA and that was the difference here, as they pulled down 54 boards to the Mavericks 41.
Dallas essentially decided to sacrifice a game here to give their veterans a day off and we won't know until May if it ultimately payed off. The team really struggled with its long distance shooting, as they went just 6-for-31 from three-point range. J.J. Barea carried the load in the loss, as he finished the game with 18 points and six assists. The candidate for surprise line of the night was Salah Mejri, who tallied 17 points and nine rebounds, which both surpassed his season totals in those statistics. Look for all the regulars to be back on Friday for their next game against the Chicago Bulls.
The Thunder were expected to dominate here and they took care of business. If there was one blemish here, it would be that Russell Westbrook was ejected in the second quarter for accumulating two technical fouls. He actually failed to score in the game for only the second time in his career. Kevin Durant stepped up his game in Westbrook's absence though, as he dropped 29 points while snatching down 10 rebounds. Serge Ibaka also had a nice 20 point-11 rebound double-double as well. It's easy to have a letdown in a game against benchwarmers, but it's a great sign for this team to step on Dallas' throats early and put the game to bed before half. Oklahoma City will be big favorites in their next game as well, when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
