DALLAS — The best rivalry in the West goes up the I-35 corridor where the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder have been battling it out for conference supremacy over the last year.
The Mavericks took on the Thunder Tuesday night with OKC getting a modicum of revenge on Dallas by knocking their southerly neighbors out of the Emirates NBA Cup tournament by a 118-104 final score.
Left in the wake was plenty to simmer on for the budding rivalry’s next chapter. Perhaps more importantly, Dallas’ win streak is no more. Winners of seven in a row coming into the contest, and 11 of their last 12 games, the Mavericks went cold from the floor against a stout Thunder defense to drop their first game in December.
The Mavs and Oklahoma City are now tied for the season series, but OKC moves on to the semifinals of the NBA Cup with momentum after finally getting the upper hand on a team that has haunted their ascension. It was clear in the Mavs’ 121-119 win in mid-November that Oklahoma City hadn’t forgotten that their previous season ended at the hands of Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals.
Also the top seed then, the young Thunder team took it to six games in a back and forth series that saw two MVP candidates trade blows. Since then, the Oklahoma City perimeter defense has greatly improved and it showed in the box score from Tuesday’s contest.
Luka Doncic was cuffed by Lu Dort, finishing with 16 contested points. It was a rare off-night for Doncic on a national stage, but credit is due to Dort, who has long commanded Doncic’s respect.
Naji Marshall and Klay Thompson benefited the most from the attention received by the Dallas backcourt, each dropping 19 in under 30 minutes of play, but it was too little in comparison to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 39-point night, six more than the superstar backcourt combo of Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined to score.
Though the teams traded blows in the first half, Dallas trailed by three points at half time. By the time the fourth quarter began, Dallas was down 90-73 as Oklahoma City outscored the Mavs by 14 points in the third quarter and wouldn’t let a big comeback manifest as they finally slayed their Dallas demons.
OKC now moves on to Vegas to continue their quest for the in-season tournament title. Dallas will hope to have Thunder-killer P.J. Washington for next time as his presence was clearly missed. Their next chance at a receipt will come in mid-January with a home and home within a week of each other, but despite failing to claim NBA Cup glory, the Mavericks retain bragging rights until the next playoff showdown.
Between now and then, Dallas will likely make additions to continue to fortify their chance at another playoff run. It likely won’t include Jimmy Butler, but the notion that a player of that caliber has Dallas in his sights shows just how much respect Dallas has league-wide.
The Mavericks likely would have loved to hoist the NBA Cup trophy – and collect the $500,000 prize money awarded to each player on the winning squad – but it may be of benefit to not peak too early. Last year’s inaugural Cup winners, the Los Angeles Lakers, were forced to qualify for the actual NBA playoffs via the play-in tournament before being eliminated in the first round.
Still, Dallas can’t be happy with how they fared in the lose-and-your-out setting after having so much success over the summer in those scenarios on the way to the NBA Finals, but their offense has shown to be elite in an extended stretch despite the rough night in Oklahoma where none of the Mavs reached even 20 points in the loss.
Despite dropping out of the NBA Cup, at their current pace, Dallas has the look of a top-three seed in the league’s most difficult conference where they’ll be eyeing the prize that counts. Doncic has also shown that his play has added intensity when he feels wronged. Look no further than putting Oklahoma City to pasture last May.
Now that OKC got one back, Doncic and the Mavs will have something to play mad about.
Do you hope to see the Mavericks and Thunder meet again in the playoffs? Share your thoughts with Irvin on Bluesky @irvin.bsky.social.
