NBA Playoff Pick: Thunder vs. Mavericks Game One

May 17, 2011

NBA Playoff Pick: Thunder vs. Mavericks Game One

Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0) vs. Dallas Mavericks (0-0) Western Conference Finals

Game One Betting Lines

NBA Betting Favorite: Mavericks -6

Over/Under: 193.5

The Western Conference Finals get started Tuesday night in Dallas. The Mavericks have had a long layoff after sweeping the Lakers, but the Thunder have a quick turnaround after fighting off the pesky Memphis Grizzlies. Oklahoma City is a young team and they should be able to bounce back quickly. The bigger question might be about how Dallas will respond to the long layoff. Will the team still have the same offensive rhythm they had against the Lakers? This should be a very interesting series. Interestingly, in their three meetings during the regular season the road team won every time.

Kevin Durant had a terrible Game Six against Memphis, but then he had a breakout game in their huge win in Game Seven. Russell Westbrook was much-maligned for his play early in the Memphis series, but I really liked the heart he showed throughout the series. Westbrook clearly has the tools to be a star, but he just needs to continually play under control. It seems that Oklahoma City tends to get bogged down on offense at the end of games because there is virtually no movement. In order to win this series, Oklahoma City will have to draw up a better game plan to get open looks against this solid Dallas defense.

Just a few weeks ago everyone was questioning the Dallas Mavericks toughness after blowing a big lead at Portland in the first round of the playoffs. Now it seems many are on the Dallas bandwagon after their sweep of the reigning Champions. I have to give the Mavericks a lot of credit for beating the Lakers, but they’ll need to have that same kind of effort against the Thunder or they could easily lose this series. Dirk Nowitzki is proving that he can be clutch in the playoffs. Dirk’s amazing shooting touch combined with his 7’0 foot frame gives the Mavericks a mismatch against every team in the league. If Dallas can continue to get solid shooting from Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and Peja Stojakovic that will make life very difficult on Oklahoma City. Two guys that are overlooked by most people are Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler. I believe these two have played a huge role in the Mavericks reaching the Western Conference Finals. Marion can defend any position on the floor, and Chandler has given the Mavericks the shot blocker they have needed for quite some time.

Both of these teams are much better defensively than most people realize. I know there are some real scorers on the floor in this series, but I like the value on the under in this game.

NBA Free Pick: Thunder vs. Mavericks under 193.5

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Kyle Hunter

is full-timesports writer and sports handicapper. You simply won’t find someone who loves sports more than Kyle. Kyle considers college football and college basketball his two favorite sports. Kyle has earned many accolades for his highly successful handicapping, and he writes full-time for many top sports websites. Keep an eye out for high quality free sports analysis from Kyle!

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