Thunder-Mavericks Preview
Posted Feb 23 2016 1:15PM
http://goo.gl/tEMkzB
The Oklahoma City Thunder are insisting everything is fine despite
back-to-back home losses, capped by their most lopsided defeat.
They should be right given how they have fared this season against the Dallas
Mavericks, who may be able to close a significant rebounding gap between
these teams this time.
The Mavericks may debut former All-Star forward David Lee on Wednesday night
at home as they try to avoid getting swept in four meetings by the Thunder.
Oklahoma City (40-16) starts a stretch of six road games out of seven after a
101-98 setback to Indiana on Friday and a 115-92 rout by Cleveland on Sunday.
The Thunder trailed by nine at halftime against the Cavaliers before shooting
35.6 percent in a 39-point second half. Kevin Durant scored 26 points and
Russell Westbrook had 20, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
"We aren't going to go home and think it's the end of the world," Durant
said. "We lost a game against a good team. We've got to regroup and figure
out what we need to do better and move on."
It's not hard to figure out that Oklahoma City needs to do better than
Sunday's 49-39 disparity on the boards, which was humbling for a club that
leads the NBA in average rebound margin at plus-7.2.
The Thunder have enjoyed an average rebound margin of plus-10.7 in three wins
over the Mavericks (30-27) this season. They played without Durant in one of
these games and Westbrook only lasted 14 scoreless minutes in a 108-89 rout
Jan. 13 after he was ejected for an incident with Dallas guard J.J. Barea.
The Mavericks also rested all five starters in the second game of a
back-to-back set in that contest.
Dallas made a move Monday to bolster its frontcourt by signing Lee three days
after he was waived by Boston. Lee, an All-Star with New York in 2010 and
Golden State in 2013, has career averages of 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds but
also had limited minutes with the Celtics this season.
"Sometimes we have issues with our rebounding, so he should help us there,"
superstar Dirk Nowitzki told the Mavericks' official website. "And I just
think it's another solid veteran that wants to win and knows how to play."
Dallas went 1-2 in a stretch of three straight overtime games before crushing
league-worst Philadelphia 129-103 on Sunday. Wesley Matthews scored 21 and
Nowitzki added 18 as the Mavs led by as many as 30 to end a three-game home
slide in the first of six straight in Dallas.
"We were playing with a swagger and a confidence that we haven't done often
enough at home," Matthews said. "It's tight right now as far as the playoff
picture. The season is a marathon, and we're in the sprint part right now."
The Mavs also got healthier with Devin Harris returning. He had eight points
in 17 minutes after missing 10 games with a left big toe strain.
Thunder newcomer Randy Foye, acquired Thursday from Denver, had two points in
13 minutes in his club debut Sunday.
大略說明一下內容:
1.David Lee應該有機會在小牛初登板，
而同時小牛也要努力避免本季對戰雷霆的四連敗。
2.雷霆從上禮拜五開始了近七場比賽中的六場客場之旅，
在上場面對騎士的比賽中，在下半場FG%只有35.6，僅僅得到39分，
最後也以92-115敗給騎士。
但對此Durant表示「我們不會覺得這就是世界末日，我們輸給一支優秀的隊伍，
我們需要重新組織起來，並找出問題點，繼續前進」
3.雷霆的場均籃板可以領先對手達7.2個之多，在本季和小牛的前三次對戰中，
雷霆平均多摘下了10.7個籃板。其中的第一場Durant缺席，
而Westbrook也因為和Barea的碰撞下僅上場14分鐘而一分未得。
但小牛也在第二次的對戰，因為B2B的緣故而輪休了明星級的5位先發球員。
4.小牛在禮拜一簽下了David Lee，這位曾兩次入選明星賽，
生涯平均14.4分、9.2籃板的前綠衫軍成員。
Dirk對此表示「有時候我們在搶籃板上出了點問題，我想他可以幫助我們。
而我認為這只是又另一位渴望贏球且知道怎麼打球的老將的到來罷了」
5.小牛在對76人的大勝之前，連續打了3場OT取得1勝2負的成績。
Matthews在對76人的比賽中取得了21分，Dirk也拿到18分，
帶領小牛曾領先多達30分，輕鬆擊敗76人，也終止了主場的三連敗。
6.小牛的陣容將隨著Devin Harris的歸隊更完整，在缺席了10場比賽後，
他在對76人的比賽上場了17分鐘拿了8分。
而雷霆的新成員Foye則在對騎士的比賽上場13分鐘拿下2分。
Let's Go Mavs !!