The Dallas Mavericks want to end their road trip with three games on Sunday night with a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, the Mavs must overcome their star player Luka Doncic with a left ankle correction. Without Doncic, the Mavs have yet to win this season.
In the third quarter of Friday’s 106-93 loss in Indiana, Doncic tightened his ankle and admitted after the game that he probably shouldn’t have played. Despite the ankle injury, Doncic finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. However, he only finished 1 in 8 (12.5 percent) from the three-point range on a night the Mavericks finished as Team 4 of 29 (13.8 percent) from the deep.
Dallas has slipped to seventh place in the Western Conference due to their poor three-point shooting. The Mavs are now 26th in the NBA from Beyond the Arc with 32.7 percent. Incidentally, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sees the NBA’s change from Spalding to Wilson basketball as the reason for the players’ shooting difficulties.
Without Doncic, the Mavs try to get back to .500 against the Thunder. Jalen Brunson will likely start in his place. OKC celebrates a 116-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City achieves an average of only 99.1 points per game and is thus at the lower end of the western rating.
It is the first of four meetings between Dallas and OKC in 2021-22. Can the Mavs get back on track after 9 of the last 12 lost games?
INJURY REPORT: Mavs: Doncic (left ankle sore) is out; Sterling Brown (left foot sore) is questionable; Willie Cauley-Stein (personal reasons) fails;
Thunder: still open
RECORDS: DALLAS MAVERICKS (12-13) at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (8-17)
IF: Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. CT
POSITION: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, OK)
TV / RADIO: BSSW, 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL)
OPPORTUNITIES: still open
NEXT: On the second night of a clash, the Mavs travel back to Dallas to host the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
LAST WORD Disappointed with the entire team-wide shooting slump, Doncic after losing to the Pacers:
“At the moment we’re just not taking pictures. We have a lot of open shots, we just don’t do them. I do not know why. We just might have to attack more, shoot fewer 3s. I think we just have to think of color first and then shoot 3s. I’ve taken a lot of bad 3’s. We should think of the rim first. “
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