The Thunder have a 2-0 lead in this series, but in both wins at Oklahoma City the Mavs only lost by a total of 4 points. Kevin Durant struggled with his shot in Game 2, but Russell Westbrook really stepped up with a big scoring night. <\/p>\n
Venue\/ Stadium: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX<\/strong> Matchup<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Preview<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n This season these teams split the 2 games they faced each other in Dallas. NBA lines have the Mavs as 3.5-favorites with a total of 194.5.<\/p>\n In Game 2 the Thunder beat the Mavs 102-99.<\/p>\n This season the Thunder are 35-33 ATS with an ATS record of 33-35 and the Mavs are 34-34 ATS with an O\/U record of 35-33. Dallas covered the spread in both games in this series at Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n Russell Westbrook is averaging 28.5 ppg in this series and even though Durant is the league scoring title winner and the big gun Oklahoma City was 23-5 this season when their All Star guard takes more shots than Durant.<\/p>\n The Mavs cannot keep Durant and Westbrook down, but they must keep other guys from having big scoring games. In Game 2 James Harden, Kendrick Perkins, and Derek Fisher each had at least 11 points.<\/p>\n Jason Kidd has really struggled with his shot in this series and Jason Terry really needs to step up on offense and help Dirk Nowitzki out. In Game 2 Terry had 13 points, but was only 5\/13 from the field. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Brendan Haywood, Kidd, and Delonte West all shot well short of 50% from the floor in Game 2 and these guys need to start shooting the rock better.<\/p>\n Kidd and Terry not only have to score, but they may want to spurn the fast break more, as in Game 2 the Mavs only had 6 fast break points. Kidd also has to be more careful with the rock after his 7-tunrover performance in Game 2.<\/p>\n The Mavs only shot a 3-pt FG% of 21.7% in Game 2 and they must make more long bombs in Game 3 or there is a good chance they will be down 3-0.<\/p>\n In some betting trends for this Western Conference playoff match up the Thunder are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall, 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, and they have an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.<\/p>\n The Mavs are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. loss, 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 home games vs. a team with a winning road record, and they have an Over record of 6-2 in their last 8 games.<\/p>\n
\nTime\/Date: 9:30 PM EST Thursday, May 3, 2012<\/strong>
\nNCAA Odds From: Bovada<\/a><\/strong>
\nMoneyline: Thunder + 150 \/ Mavs -170 <\/strong>
\nSpread (ATS): Mavs -3.5 <\/strong>
\nOver\/Under:\u00a0 194.5 <\/strong><\/p>\n