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Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks

Wed Oct 288:30 PM CTESPNDallas, TX
By JR·2 min read
Thunder(4-0)
Mavericks(2-2)
Wednesday 10/288:30 PM

TLDR: Oklahoma City is 4-0 and has lost 2 starters to surgery in the same week. Wednesday in Dallas is the first real look at what the champs are once the bodies run out, against a Mavericks team that has gone as far as Cooper Flagg's shoulder lets it.

THU 10/29, 8:30 PMESPN
Thunder
(4-0)
WWWW
Mavericks
(2-2)
WLWL

The 4-0 Thunder visit the 2-2 Mavericks without Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, both headed for surgery, and with Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso uncertain. Dallas has played like a different team with Cooper Flagg than without him, and he's playing through a sprained shoulder in front of a frontcourt full of injuries. The game probably comes down to which injury list shrinks before tip. There is no board posted yet.

Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Beat Suns by 11 on a back-to-back, badly shorthanded
  • Held Denver to 84, Spurs to 104
  • Won all 4 games by 7 or more
  • Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace out, both need surgery
  • Caruso day-to-day with a right ankle sprain
  • Holmgren, Topic, Sorber all sat Monday
Dallas Mavericks
  • Flagg: 29 points, 11 assists through a sprained shoulder
  • Won the 4th quarter 30-25 to close out Miami
  • Lively, Aldama, Martin, Marshall all on injury reports
  • Lost to the Spurs by 16 at home without Flagg
  • Dropped the opener in Houston by 18

The Thunder's season changed in the 4th quarter of the 108-101 win over the Clippers. Jalen Williams landed awkwardly on a drive and was stretchered off with a fractured left fibula and a dislocated ankle, and Cason Wallace came out of the same game with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Both need surgery. Sam Presti says no timetable gets set until after the procedures, and the reporting around both injuries treats the rest of the season as a real possibility for each of them. OKC's response was to bury Phoenix 125-114 on the second night of a back-to-back, which says plenty about the depth they've built.

That depth is getting tested hard, though. Chet Holmgren (knee), Nikola Topic (back) and Thomas Sorber (knee) all sat against the Suns, and Alex Caruso left after 9 minutes with a right ankle sprain. He's day-to-day, so whether he plays Wednesday is the biggest open question on the OKC side. Caruso had 9 points on 3-of-5 from deep before he went down, and with Williams, Wallace and Topic all out, he's the guard this rotation can least afford to lose.

Dallas has its own triage going on. Dereck Lively II (foot), Santi Aldama (knee), Naji Marshall (illness), Caleb Martin (thumb) and Tarik Biberovic (heel) have all appeared on recent injury reports, and Sergio de Larrea left the Miami game with a knee issue after 6 scoreless minutes. When the Mavericks won in Miami, most of their frontcourt was in street clothes. The question is how many of those names are back by 8:30 PM CT Wednesday, and nobody can answer it yet.

The Mavericks' record is easier to read once you split it by Flagg. He hurt his shoulder in the 121-105 win at Indiana and sat the next game, a 122-106 home loss to San Antonio where the 4th quarter got away from Dallas. He came back in Miami as a game-time decision and put up 29 points and 11 assists, then blocked the shot that would have given the Heat the lead late. Dallas is 2-2 overall, but the version of this team with Flagg on the floor looks a lot more dangerous than that record. The other loss was an 18-point beating in Houston on opening night.

Oklahoma City Thunder
(4-0)
10/27WvsSuns125-114
10/25WvsClippers108-101
10/23WvsNuggets96-84
10/21W@Spurs116-104
Dallas Mavericks
(2-2)
10/26W@Heat113-109
10/25LvsSpurs106-122
10/23W@Pacers121-105
10/22L@Rockets110-128

OKC has won 4 straight, and none of those wins was close enough to sweat late. They've held Denver to 84 and San Antonio to 104, and they topped 120 against Phoenix with half the rotation hurt. On Wednesday they'll be playing their first road game since the injury pile-up, against a 20-year-old who just ran a whole offense with 1 working shoulder. Both teams get Tuesday off. The injury report that comes out between now and tip will tell you more about this game than either team's record does.

Thunder vs. Mavericks: Polymarket Odds & Prediction (Oct. 28) — Shorthanded Thunder Bring a Perfect Start Into Flagg's Building