Dallas Mavericks-Oklahoma City Thunder: Five things to watch
Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is very respectful of the Oklahoma City Thunder as his team prepares for their first-round NBA playoff series.
“They’re an elite team,” Carlisle said. “Really, if you look at the statistics, they’re in that group of four or five [teams] that are considered to be the championship contenders.
“So we know this is a hard series and a difficult challenge.”
The Mavericks are game-planning to contain Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. But there’s another Thunder player who also antagonized the Mavericks this season, when Dallas was 0-4 against Oklahoma City.
His name is Dion Waiters.
“Durant and Westbrook are obviously two superstar players, and we have to pay a lot of attention to those two guys,” Carlisle said. “But a guy that has emerged on their team as a star player is Waiters in our games.
“He has really hurt us this year, so we have got to treat him like one of their major stars.”
Here are five things to watch in the Mavs-Thunder series:
Who will control tempo?
The Mavericks were very successful late in the season by slowing the game and playing a deliberate style. The Thunder was fourth in the league in fast-break points at 17.3 per game and can get the ball up court and score within 6 seconds.
Battle in the paint
Oklahoma City has one of the top frontlines in the NBA in Enes Kanter, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Mitch McGary. They are tall and aggressive. The Mavericks’ Zaza Pachulia, Salah Mejri and Dwight Powell must be steady. Injured power forward David Lee is doubtful.
OKC’s dynamic duo
Since either Durant or Westbrook probably will touch the ball on virtually every trip up the floor, containing them both is practically impossible. They are the second-highest scoring duo in the league at 51.7 points per game.
The Dirk factor
Legendary power forward Dirk Nowitzki has been in more big games than any player on either team and he seems to thrive in these types of situations. He will need as many touches as he can get for the Mavericks to pull a first-round upset.
In-game adjustments
Carlisle has an advantage here. While Thunder coach Billy Donovan won a couple of NCAA titles, he’s in his first year coaching in the highest level of the game. Carlisle has an NBA title as a player and coach and is one of the best at in-game adjustments.
Mavericks at Thunder
8:30 p.m. Saturday, KTXA/21, ESPN
This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Dallas Mavericks-Oklahoma City Thunder: Five things to watch."