The Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks are playing live on the NBA schedule on Tuesday night and the game from TNT on TV will be coming from the American Airlines Center at 8 pm ET and has Kevin Durant taking on Dirk Nowitzki in a key west matchup as the playoffs are starting to get closer.
The Thunder have been one of the best teams in the NBA this season and Durant has been on fire and he looks like he will be winning his first MVP after the way he has played and they are second in the west with a 52-18 record behind the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder game is the first of a double header and the NY Knicks will be playing on the west coast against the Los Angeles Lakers to keep their winning streak going and they need to do that for any chance to make the playoffs, as they still have games to make up in the standings.
The Thunder are two games back from the Spurs and they have the chance still to get the top seed in the west and that is where they were last season and right now they are ahead of the LA Clippers and the Houston Rockets in the standings. The team comes into the game ranked fifth in the league in scoring and they are second in rebounding and now they have the chance to keep that strong play going against the Mavs and right now they are first in their division and they will be one of the favorites to make it out of the western conference. The team defense is ranked in the top 10 and they come in after playing against the Denver Nuggets and they next will face off against the Sacramento Kings.
Durant is averaging 32.1 points this season and he has been fantastic and what's amazing about the east and the west this season is that at 42-29, the Mavs would be the third seed in the east, but since they are not in that conference, they are currently out of the playoffs and that makes this game even more crucial. The team missed the playoffs last season and while they have been much better this year and will finish over .500, a loss here could put them in a tough spot going down the stretch.
The team comes in after a tough overtime loss against the Brooklyn Nets and now they play against OKC before a matchup with the LA Clippers. The team is eighth in the NBA in scoring this season and fifth in assists per game, but they are allowing over 100 points per contest and the rebounding ranks near the bottom of the NBA. The game starts up at 8 pm ET on TV from TNT.
Check here for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks live coverage.
