The knockout spherical of the NBA Cup begins Tuesday night time, with the ultimate eight groups competing for an opportunity to go to the semifinals in Las Vegas.
The primary Western Convention matchup has the Dallas Mavericks touring 200 miles up Interstate 35 to play the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks shook off their opening loss to the Golden State Warriors to complete 3-1 and surprisingly take the wild card out of a tricky West Group C by defeating the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies — and working up the rating on the New Orleans Pelicans.
Dallas is perhaps the most popular crew within the NBA. It is gained seven straight video games and 11 of its final 12, which included a 121-119 win over the Thunder on Nov. 17. The Mavericks have the NBA’s No. 4 offense and the No. 8 protection, with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving averaging a mixed 53 factors per sport. P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Energetic are all averaging greater than a block per sport.
It is a burgeoning rivalry. The Mavericks upset the top-seeded Thunder within the second spherical of the playoffs final season, beating up the Thunder on the boards and certain inspiring them to signal middle Isaiah Hartenstein this summer time. Not solely are they each title contenders, however the cities are fairly shut they usually have a pre-existing Texas-Oklahoma school soccer rivalry.
One huge issue? Illness. Each Washington and Naji Marshall are questionable with sickness, which could possibly be an issue for Dallas in opposition to the Thunder’s limitless provide of rangy wing gamers.
Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder
The Thunder ended up because the Western Convention’s prime seed with a 3-1 document, righting the ship after an upset loss to the San Antonio Spurs, who had been lacking Victor Wembanyama. In fact, OKC has been with out its personal younger star middle since Chet Holmgren suffered a fractured pelvis a month in the past.
OKC has the NBA’s third-best document at 18-5 even with out Holmgren and Hartenstein obtainable for many of the season. They have their very own high-scoring backcourt with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29.8 factors per sport) and Jalen Williams (22 PPG), whereas the undersized crew is nonetheless fourth within the league in blocks.
Tuesday’s sport would possibly come all the way down to possession. Whereas Doncic and Irving are intimidating, the Thunder get probably the most steals and drive probably the most turnovers within the league whereas committing the fewest. If the Thunder can get sufficient takeaways, they’re going to be taking their ball and heading to Vegas.