Mavs vs. Thunder Preview: Can Dallas Find Stability After Roller-Coaster Start?

The Dallas Mavericks take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night in an attempt to snap a two-game losing streak. For Dallas, the first 26 games of the 2022-23 season have been about as up-and-down as one could imagine.

The 2022-23 NBA season has been a roller-coaster ride for the Dallas Mavericks, and not the fun kind.

Through 26 games, the Mavs find themselves with a 13-13 record and barely clinging to the 10th spot in the Western Conference standings, which is the last Play-In Tournament spot. There is still a long way to go, but the Mavs' front office can't be happy with how this current roster has gotten off to yet another slow start for the third consecutive year – especially when considering that Luka Doncic came into the season in excellent shape and has performed at an MVP level.

Coming off a demoralizing 144-115 blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls in a game where Doncic rested, the Mavs will try to rebound at American Airlines Center against the young Oklahoma City Thunder. The good news? The Mavs have had a day of rest and hold a 10-4 record at home. The bad news? One of those four home losses came against this OKC squad at the end of October in what was a historic meltdown.

After leading by 16 points with less than four minutes to go in that Oct. 29 matchup at AAC, the Mavs somehow blew their lead en route to a 117-111 loss in overtime. NBA teams were 9,975-1 when leading by at least 16 points in the final four minutes before that game, and the Mavs managed to make that 9,975-2.

“That’s on me,” Doncic said. “I didn’t lead the team. I didn’t make shots. I didn’t do what needed to be done to win.”

Doncic and the Mavs will try to avenge that embarrassing loss while also attempting to crawl back over .500 after back-to-back disappointing losses. It will be easier said than done, though, as OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having a career-best season by averaging 30.8 points per game on 50.1-percent shooting. He put up 38 points on the Mavs in the teams' first meeting.

For Dallas, there has been a lack of stability this season, and to reach its preseason goals of building on a Western Conference Finals appearance, that will need to change sooner than later. Can stability be achieved with the current roster, or is a shakeup needed? We'll find out for sure in the coming month as trade rumors heat up.

RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (13-13), Oklahoma City Thunder (11-15)

WHEN: Monday, December 12, 2022 – 7:30 p.m. CT

WHERE: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)

TV: Bally Sports Southwest, NBA League Pass

RADIO: 97.1 The Freak, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

ODDS: The Mavs are 8.5-point favorites over the Thunder.

NEXT UP: The Mavs continue their three-game homestand against Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday before wrapping things up against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.

FINAL WORD: “It’s difficult, but it’s no excuses," said Christian Wood, who put up 21 points and nine rebounds in his first start of the season against the Bulls. "I think we could have definitely made it a winnable game tonight, but no excuses. You can say we only had 12 hours of travel and were running on sleep. We just got to be better energy-wise and defensively.”

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