Dallas Mavs at OKC Thunder GAMEDAY: Preview, Betting Odds, Injury Report

The Dallas Mavericks open preseason play against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Tulsa on Wednesday night. Two key players have already been ruled out. Will Luka Doncic play?

Dalton Trigg | Oct 5, 2022

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Dallas Mavericks

At long last, the Dallas Mavericks will play NBA basketball again on Wednesday night for the first time since falling to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Albeit, it's just a preseason game ... but after what seemed like an extra-long offseason, Mavs fans will be happy to soak in any game action they can with the regular-season opener two weeks away.

The Mavs will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in what is technically a road game for Dallas, but instead of playing at the Paycom Center in OKC, the two teams will suit up at the BOK Center in Tulsa. DallasBasketball.com will be in the building, so stay tuned for tonight for our postgame coverage.

Will Luka Doncic play despite not being listed on the official injury report? How will Christian Wood look in his first game as a Maverick? What will coach Jason Kidd's offense look like with a much bigger roster? Can Josh Green continue to fuel the preseason hype train?

Let's find out...

WHAT TO WATCH: There will be many interesting Mavs angles to watch for tonight, but the most intriguing one to us is the budding chemistry between Wood and promising rookie Jaden Hardy off the bench. There are many people who believe Hardy won't have much of an impact this season, but from what we've seen in training camp and the Mavs' open scrimmage on Saturday, his connection with Wood could be the key to him getting consistent rotation minutes sooner than anyone thought.

INJURY REPORT, DALLAS: Davis Bertans (right knee effusion) and JaVale McGee (left ankle sprain)

UPDATE: Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber will not play in this game despite not being injured.

PRESEASON RECORDS: Mavs (0-0), Thunder (1-0)

WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022 at 7 p.m. CT

LOCATION: BOK Center (Tulsa, OK)

TV/RADIO: Mavs.com (streaming), 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL)

ODDS: The Mavs are currently 5-point favorites over the Thunder. The O/U is 211.5.

NEXT UP: The Mavs will travel back to Dallas for what will be their only preseason game at American Airlines Center on Friday night. They'll take on the up-and-coming Orlando Magic, led by former Mavs assistant coach Jamahl Mosley and No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft Paolo Banchero.

LAST WORD: “If you ask anybody that’s been through any major injury, to even be able to come back that quickly is definitely a testament to the work. But it’s just completely different being almost two years removed," said Spencer Dinwiddie, who will take on an increased workload this season next to Doncic in the starting lineup.

“[It was] a normal offseason, full training mode, not worried about swelling or taking a break, or two days on and one day off. It’s let’s get to it.”

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Published Oct 5, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.