Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks

It's the Warriors, Spurs, Rockets, and everybody else when it comes to the top seeds for the Western Conference playoffs. Of course, that means one slot is available for home court in the first round and the Oklahoma City has just as good a chance as anybody to claim it down the stretch. The Mavs – not so much, as they're eyeing up a top 10 pick with a notion towards improving their standings (aka tanking). The Thunder seem to be peaking at the right time post All-Star Weekend. The Thunder posted a 7-3 record over a 10 game span in the last few weeks and have won four in a row tallying 109+ PPG in each. Three of those wins were against tomato cans like the Knicks, Lakers, and Pelicans but a 109-106 win over current #4 seed Utah on 2/28 was impressive.

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Recently, Dallas has said, "Tanking? What do you mean?". At the time of the year when they should essentially be tallying losses, they have actually won two of three and only suffered a 5 point defeat in Atlanta. The Mavs are a somewhat decent 4-6 over their last 10. They are only a bit over 3 games out of the final playoff slot in the West but have three or four teams to jump in the process. Hey, anything can happen over the final 20-some games of the season.

Thunder at Mavs Pick

The Thunder is a mediocre 12-17 away from Oklahoma City but Dallas hasn't exactly been home dominant at 16-14. The Mavs didn't necessarily match up well in the team's first matchup of the season, a 109-98 Thunder win in Oklahoma City. Even the total could go either way based on the trends. OKC has gone over the total in 6 out of 7 games whereas Dallas has been an under winner in 5 straight. The fatigue factor could be in Dallas' favor. Oklahoma City will be playing their third road game in four nights whereas the Mavericks have only had a home game against Memphis in that time. The Thunder are playing better recently, but the travel schedule may catch up to them especially as they look forward to heading home for a week after the game. The Mavs should be able to pull off the upset in this one.