Oklahoma City Thunder vs Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs will look to make it eight wins on the bounce when they travel to the Paycom Center to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.

This will be the second time the two teams will come face to face within the current season Endeavour, though the Mavericks won the first duel handily, a two-point margin that forced a spirited OKC to fold at the final buzzer on November 18.

The Oklahoma City Thunder consolidated their position at the summit of the Western Conference power rankings as they emerged 119-109 winners against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on Saturday night.

Saddened to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bag it in a 31- point display in the 34 minutes he played and placed 30+ points in six of seven matches in the final stretch, Jalen Williams responding with a 27-point masterclass, and Isaiah Hartenstein’s 12-point 12-rebound outing.

The Thunder have now made a three-game winning streak against the Utah Jazz, the Toronto Raptors and rather recently – the Pelicans which is seven wins in their last eight games after two consecutive losses to the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs on the November.

Finally, after becoming the first team in the western conference standings in the previous season, Mark Daigneault’s team are most likely to become the first-seeded team of the new season with the best result of 18-5 achieved in the first 23 games.

The Thunder have buckled up at the back court this term with only 42.5% field goal and 103.8 points per game — the lowest tally in the division.

Up next for OKC is the test of a side that has had the better of them in the last three games and have won five of the last six facing them – OKC will remember the 4-2 defeat they suffered in the Western Conference semi-finals in May.

Luka Doncic scored 30 points, dished out 11 assists, and pulled down 13 rebounds to achieve his 79th career triple-double and lead the visitors to victory. Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, and Doncic all finished with 20 points or more.

The Mavericks have won 11 of their last 12 games, including seven consecutive victories since November 26, after a wild start to the season in which they only managed five victories from their first 12 games.

They are now the fifth-best scoring team in the league with an average of 48.7% field goals and fourth in points per game (119.1), which is consistent with their strong offensive performance.

With 16 victories from the first 24 games, Jason Kidd's team is now 16-8 on the season and tied for third place in the Western Conference standings with the Houston Rockets.

After suffering an injury during the preseason match against the Spurs on October 8, Alex Ducas has been sidelined and will not participate in Tuesday's match.

Doncic has surpassed Wilt Chamberlin and James Harden in the NBA's all-time record after recording his 79th triple-double against the Raptors previous game.

With an average of 28.7 points per game, the Slovenian is presently ranked fifth in the league scoring chart. He and Irving, 32, have created a potent attacking tandem in the second half.

Regarding injuries, Maxi Kleber was ill and will not participate in Wednesday's matchup against the Raptors, while Dante Exum (hand) and Jaden Hardy (ankle) continue to lose time.