Thunder vs Mavericks Preview: What a difference 38 days can make

Instead of jockeying for position at the top of the conference, the Mavericks are reeling

38 short days. That is all it took to turn this season upside down. On the evening of December 10th – just 38 ticks back on your handy calendar – the Dallas Mavericks hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder in what was viewed as a measuring stick game.

Dallas had reasons to be optimistic—both about the outcome of that game and the trajectory of the young season. Dallas entered the contest sitting only two games behind the Thunder in the loss column and were victors in eleven of their preceding twelve games. The Mavericks fielded a nearly complete rotation at home against their top challenger in the conference and despite losing 118-104 – the season series stood at one game each.

The tumble in the standings since is earmarked with a rash of injuries and other weirdness that boggles the mind. Sitting at 22-19 and seventh in the conference, Dallas is sinking like a proverbial millstone. As they get set to take on the Thunder at home again, they will do it without – arguably – their three most important players. Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Dereck Lively II will all be in street clothes as the NBA’s top team comes to town. The Thunder remain in first place and their star is drenched in MVP narrative while the Dallas standard bearer in that department is now ineligible for any postseason award.

All of this makes writing a game preview tough, the same goes for general fandom but there are brighter days ahead. The Dallas Mavericks’ history is largely not one of being a front-runner in the standings. The best Maverick outcomes – including the championship and last year’s run to the Finals – have come from a place of being looked over and counted out. Even though this season began with so much promise, being the feisty underdog in the standings and zeitgeist fits the moment. The Mavericks need to get healthy, get on a roll, and claim the familiar moniker of “the team no one else wants to face in the playoffs”.

As for this game, the Thunder – fresh off their dismantling of the Cleveland Cavaliers – are likely to roll through Dallas. While that is the most likely outcome, we watch anyway. Grimacing at the losses, wistful of the season that may have been, and hopeful that the remaining twists and turns to this campaign trend upward.