Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 12th, 2021 

Venue:  Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  NL

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Cavs -6.5: O/U 216.5

 

Mavericks: 12-13, 7th place Western Conference

Thunder: 8-17, 14th place Western Conference

The Mavericks lost their last game to the Indiana Pacers 106-93.  The Pacers are coached by Rick Carlisle, who coached the Mavs last season but was pushed out by owner Mark Cuban in favor of NBA legend Jason Kidd.  It must have been a good feeling for Coach Carlisle to take a bad Pacers team, with PF Domantas Sabonis leading the way, and beat up on his former team.  It has been a yo-yo ride all season for the Mavs, they beat the New Orleans Pelicans, they lost to the New Orleans Pelicans.  They lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, they beat the Memphis Grizzlies.  They lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, they beat the Los Angeles Clippers.  They win or lose seemingly at random.  Sometimes the portly superstar Luka Doncic has a great game, sometimes he spends the whole night crying over calls.  Dallas has another star, who is potentially a superstar in Kristaps Porzingis and no one is certain he and Luka Doncic play well together.  The Mavs Western Conference opponents have no idea what to prepare for from contest to contest… none.  The lineup changes, the chemistry sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t, the defense comes and goes.  We won’t know what the Mavs really are until the All-Star break… for right now they are good to bet against.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are almost in last place… both in the conference and in the league.  Yet, if you can stomach turnovers, they are a fun team to watch.  For entertainment purposes you aren’t watching great basketball, you are watching development in action.  Thunder rookie Josh Giddey is loaded with potential and flashes it from time to time.  Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a very talented basketball player having his growth stunted by playing for a bad team… and everyone’s favorite should be Thunder G/F Luguentz Dort.  Mr Dort is 30% talent, 300% hustle… he’s clunky and deliberate and telegraphs his every move and it works!  The Thunder lost their last game to the Los Angeles Lakers 116-95… but before that had won two in a row against the Toronto Raptors by 1 point… and the League’s actual worst team the Detroit Pistons 114-103.  The Thunder will not reach a winning record this season… the team’s top performers are a few years away from maturity.  Plus the front office wants this team to be bad enough to get them the top pick in the Lottery.  OKC is  sitting on a mountain of draft picks and young players and we won’t see a lot of wins this season… They are building.

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Dallas is 12-13 on the season, but 10-15 ATS.  They have logged 8 Overs, 16 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 6-7 in road games.

OKC is 8-17 on the season, but 15-10 ATS.  They have notched 10 Overs and 15 Unders.  They are 4-8 in home games, yet better at home than on the road.

Dallas is 27th in the NBA in points with 103.8 per game, 27th in rebounds with 43 per game, and 8th in AST/TO ratio.  They are shooting poorly thi season 22nd FG%, 26th 3PT%, 27th FT%... They shine a little bit more on the defensive end by ranking 10th in points defense and only give up 105.6 per game.  They still give up more than they score on average.

OKC is 30th in ppg with 99.1 per game.  That’s right they are the lowest scoring team in the NBA.  They do get rebounds though for a ranking of 9th in the league with 45.8, so it does help to miss some shots… but then they are 28th in AST/TO ratio with 1.4.  They are a lousy shooting team 29th FG%, 30th 3PT%, and 25th FT%.... They step up a little bit on defense, but a big part of that could be teams getting sloppy against them while playing down to the competition.

Our prediction for Sunday, December 12th is….  Thunder 111 - Mavericks 104

Luka Doncic will miss this game.  He leads the team in points, rebounds, and assists.  Yes, sometimes when a superstar misses a game his teammates step up and play freer and come through.  Not now… The Mavs are under too much turmoil and the Thunder have 3 players who are steadily increasing their stats (Giddey, Mann, and Bazley).  The Thunder will get this one and it’s worth the bet.

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Dallas is 3-2 ATS versus OKC over the last 3 seasons.

Dallas is 30-21 ATS versus OKC at OKC since 1996.

OKC is 19-4 ATS in Sunday Games over the last 3 seasons.

OKC is 15-10 ATS this season.

Mavs: PG Luka Doncic (ankle) Out ** C Willie Cauley-Stein (illness) Out ** SG Sterling Brown (foot) Out

OKC:  No injuries to report!

Dallas: PF Kristaps Porzingas, SF Dorian Finney-Smith, C Dwight Powell, SG Reggie Bullock, PG Luka Doncic

OKC: SF Luguentz Dort, PF Darius Bazley, C Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, SG Josh Giddey

Dallas

Points: Luka Doncic 25.6

Assists: Luka Doncic 8.5

Rebounds: 8.0

Steals: Dorian Finney-Smith 1.5

Blocks: Kristaps Porzingas 1.4

OKC

Points: Shai Gilgeous Alexander 21.4

Assists: Josh Giddey 5.9

Rebounds: Josh Giddey 6.7

Steals: Kenrich Williams: 1.0

Blocks: Darius Bazley 1.1

Mavs: Jason Kidd.  Coach Kidd has fixed everything when he took over for Rick Carlisle… The Mavs are below .500 and their superstar has developed a conditioning problem.

OKC: Mark Daigneault.  Coach Daigneault is the youngest active head coach in the NBA.. and he is coaching one of the youngest rosters.  The lack of experience shows, his team is thoroughly undisciplined… but no worries, the entire roster will be different in just a few years… that is if coach Daigneault survives a few years.