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.
大略说明一下内容:
1.David Lee应该有机会在小牛初登板，
而同时小牛也要努力避免本季对战雷霆的四连败。
2.雷霆从上礼拜五开始了近七场比赛中的六场客场之旅，
在上场面对骑士的比赛中，在下半场FG%只有35.6，仅仅得到39分，
最后也以92-115败给骑士。
但对此Durant表示“我们不会觉得这就是世界末日，我们输给一支优秀的队伍，
我们需要重新组织起来，并找出问题点，继续前进”
3.雷霆的场均篮板可以领先对手达7.2个之多，在本季和小牛的前三次对战中，
雷霆平均多摘下了10.7个篮板。其中的第一场Durant缺席，
而Westbrook也因为和Barea的碰撞下仅上场14分钟而一分未得。
但小牛也在第二次的对战，因为B2B的缘故而轮休了明星级的5位先发球员。
4.小牛在礼拜一签下了David Lee，这位曾两次入选明星赛，
生涯平均14.4分、9.2篮板的前绿衫军成员。
Dirk对此表示“有时候我们在抢篮板上出了点问题，我想他可以帮助我们。
而我认为这只是又另一位渴望赢球且知道怎么打球的老将的到来罢了”
5.小牛在对76人的大胜之前，连续打了3场OT取得1胜2负的成绩。
Matthews在对76人的比赛中取得了21分，Dirk也拿到18分，
带领小牛曾领先多达30分，轻松击败76人，也终止了主场的三连败。
6.小牛的阵容将随着Devin Harris的归队更完整，在缺席了10场比赛后，
他在对76人的比赛上场了17分钟拿了8分。
而雷霆的新成员Foye则在对骑士的比赛上场13分钟拿下2分。
Let's Go Mavs !!