The Dallas Mavericks have been waiting around quite a while now to finally see who they are playing. The well rested Mavericks (coming off a sweep of the defending champion Lakers) will be duking it out with the Oklahoma City Thunder who won a hard fought series against the Grizzlies (it went 7 games). The matchups look pretty even overall in this series, so it could come down to which team has a star really rise up in this matchup. Here is a look at the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: Jason Kidd used to be one of the best point guards in all of basketball, but he’s running on fumes now. Kidd has played in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 33.6 minutes, 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The Mavericks will need Kidd to play good defense and to take his fair share of shots to make Russell Westbrook work at both ends of the basketball court.
Russell Westbrook is one of the best point guards in the league and he’s not shy about taking a lot of shots. Westbrook has played in 12 games (all starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 36.9 minutes, 23.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.3 steals. The Thunder usually go as Westbrook goes, as they win most of the games he plays well in.
EDGE: THUNDER
SHOOTING GUARD: DeShawn Stevenson is a starter in name only as Jason Terry gets most of the minutes at this spot. Stevenson has played in 10 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 12.8 minutes, 3.2 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.
Thabo Sefolosha is a defensive stopper for the Thunder and like Stevenson, he is a starter in name only as James Harden gets most of the P.T. here. Sefolosha has played in 12 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far and he is averaging 20.3 minutes, 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.
EDGE: EVEN
SMALL FORWARD: Shawn Marion will have his hands full in this series dealing with Kevin Durant. Marion has played in 10 games (all starts) in the playoffs and he is averaging 30.9 minutes, 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The Mavericks are going to need Marion to shoot the ball a little more than usual to make Durant work on the defensive end of the basketball court.
Kevin Durant is probably the best small forward in the NBA right now (sorry LeBron). He has played in 12 games (all starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 41.6 minutes, 28.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. If Durant goes off in this series, the Thunder are going to win it.
EDGE: HUGE FOR THE THUNDER
POWER FORWARD: Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best money players in the NBA. He has played in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 38.1 minutes, 26.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Nowitzki has been on fire from three point range in the playoffs as he is 12 for 20 (60%) from that range.
Serge Ibaka is a power player, so he might have issues chasing Nowitzki around. Ibaka has played in 12 games (all starts) so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 28.8 minutes, 9.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 3.6 blocked shots per game. The Thunder might use Ibaka on Marion with Durant playing Nowtizki on D.
EDGE: MAVERICKS
CENTER: Tyson Chandler’s main job is to rebound and play defense. He has played in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavs during the playoffs so far and he is averaging 29.7 minutes, 6.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Chandler is set to slug it out under the basket with Kendrick Perkins in this series.
Kendrick Perkins has the same job description as Chandler. The Thunder hope that Perkins will get down and dirty around the basket in this series. Perkins has played in 12 games (all starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 28.6 minutes, 4.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
EDGE: VERY SLIGHT FOR THE MAVERICKS
BENCH: The bench is a very important part of the Mavericks’ success. Shooting guard Jason Terry has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mavs so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 32.3 minutes, 18.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He is shooting 22 of 44 (50%) from three point range so far in the playoffs as he has been an assassin from long range for the Mavericks. Small forward Peja Stojakovic has also been a force offensively off the bench for the Mavericks in the playoffs. He has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 24.3 minutes, 10.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He is shooting 24 for 52 (46.2%) from the three point line so far in the playoffs. Point guard J.J. Barea will give Jason Kidd a break when he needs one. Barea has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 7.7 points, 1.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Backup center Brendan Haywood’s job will be to rebound and play D when he’s on the court. Haywood has played in 10 games (0 starts) so far in the playoffs for the Mavericks and he averaged 17.5 minutes, 2.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. SG/SF Corey Brewer could also get some P.T. in this series because of his defense. Brewer has played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Mavs so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 3.6 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.
Shooting guard James Harden is the best player off the bench for the Thunder. He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 31.3 minutes, 12.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. PF/C Nick Collison didn’t get a lot of P.T. during the regular season but he has stepped up during the playoffs for the Thunder. Collison has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder during the playoffs so far and he is averaging 23.1 minutes, 5.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Backup point guard Eric Maynor has been outstanding in the playoffs for the Thunder. He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 12.8 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Daeqaun has been a long range shooter off the bench for the Thunder so far in the playoffs. He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 12.3 minutes, 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.1 assist per game. Center Nazr Mohammed has been giving Kendrick Perkins a rest when he needs one. He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder in the playoffs and he is averaging 11.8 minutes, 2.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR THE MAVERICKS
COACHING: Rick Carlisle earned a lot of respect by having his team sweep the Lakers and Phil Jackson. He now has a 45-43 (51.1%) record during the playoffs as he appears to be a late bloomer as a coach in the post-season. Carlisle’s got his team rolling right now.
Scott Brooks helped his Thunder eek out a tough series against the Grizzlies. Brooks is now 10-8 (55.6%) in his career during the playoffs.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR MAVERICKS
PREDICTION: As much as I want to pick the Mavericks in this series, I just can’t pull the trigger. I like the Thunder to win this series in 7 games.