With the second half of the NBA season officially underway, several teams are fighting for position in the Western Conference. Armed with plenty of talent, bubble teams are aiming for a late-season run to get them into the postseason following the NBA trade deadline. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks are two teams that have adjusted their rosters and now aim for the conference's top spot as they face off on Thursday night.
The Dallas Mavericks have made the biggest splash in roster adjustments this season as they traded for Rajon Rondo while signing Amar'e Stoudemire off the free agent market. Meanwhile the Oklahoma City Thunder traded away both Kendrick Perkins and Reggie Jackson at the trade deadline. Stoudemire will make his debut in Dallas on Thursday night as the Mavericks need him to play well alongside Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler while adding depth on the bench. Stoudemire comes to Dallas after having his contract bought out by the New York Knicks.
It is unclear exactly what Stoudemire will bring to the Mavericks. The power forward has been managing 11.9 points per game over the past two seasons, but has also missed an extended period of time with various injuries. The Mavericks lost most of their big man depth in the trade for Rondo so they need Stoudemire to step it up in the second half of the year.
The Thunder are where they are in the Western Conference because they played a good portion of the beginning of the season without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. However, they finished the first half strong winning three straight and five of their last six games before the All-Star break. They are currently one-half game behind Phoenix for the final spot in the playoffs and need to be playing their best to secure a spot.
Oklahoma City lost their first game against Dallas this season as Nowitzki went off with 30 points. The game was played without Durant who is averaging 31.7 points on 65.3 percent shooting in his last three games against Dallas. The Thunder could use a repeat of those numbers.