In 2010-11, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks met in the Western Conference Finals, the winner getting a chance to play in the NBA Finals. The Mavericks won the series and went on to win the NBA Championship. It was the second year that the Thunder made it to the postseason and they did better each year.

Now in 2010-11, the Thunder are ready to make that next step towards their destiny. They have started the new season with a 3-0 record, looking like the long NBA lockout didn’t affect them one bit. However, the Mavericks are headed in the other direction, sitting at 0-2, they have not won a game since they won the championship last season.

Kevin Durant leads the Thunder once again. In three games, Durant has surpassed 30 points each time, the first player in franchise history, Seattle and Oklahoma City combined, to open a season with three straight 30 point games. If Durant hits 30 points again against Dallas, he will be the first NBA player since Kobe Bryant (2005-06) to open a season with four consecutive 30-point games.

James Harden is the second leading scorer, the most valuable sixth man in the NBA. Harden heads in averaging 18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game. Despite not starting, Harden still averages over 30 minutes a game. Russell Westbrook fell hard in Week 3, going 0-of-13 from the field, but still averages 15.3 points, 6.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game.

Dirk Nowitzki leads the Mavericks once again this season, the defending 2010-11 MVP. He only averages 20.5 points in the first two games this season with only 4.5 rebounds. Outside of Nowitzki, Jason Terry (14.5), Sean Williams (12.0) and Jason Kidd (10.5) are the only double digit scorers.

Newcomers Vince Carter (8.0 points) and Lamar Odom (5.0 points, 5.5 rebounds) have not found their comfort level yet in Dallas.

From the look, the Thunder have outperformed the Mavericks in every area of play this season. In the preseason, Oklahoma City swept Dallas in both their meetings. If they beat the Mavericks now, the Thunder will be 4-0 for the first time since 2003-04 when they played in Seattle. The game against Dallas tips off at 7:00 p.m. CT on December 29 in Oklahoma City.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: NBA.COM

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A championship hangover appears to have an early grip on the Dallas Mavericks. And it’s severe enough to make one gag.The Mavericks suffered their second straight embarrassing loss in as many days, falling to the Denver Nuggets 115-93 on Monday night.The reigning champions fell behind by 27 points at halftime (69-42) and trailed by as many as 33 points in the third quarter.On Sunday, the Miami Heat bludgeoned the Mavericks in a rematch of the NBA Finals, building a 35-point third-quarter lead in a 105-94 rout.Dirk Nowitzki, the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals, described Dallas’ plight in succinct terms.”We look old and slow and out of shape — a bad combination,” Nowitzki said.The fact that both losses came at home made Dallas’ 0-2 start more stomach-churning, although a moment of comic relief was provided by reserve Sean Williams.In his first game with the teams, Williams made an indelible impression on his new teammates by scoring 12 points in 11 minutes — and then vomiting while sitting on the bench.The Mavericks have lost key players Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea from its title-winning team and are trying to incorporate newcomers Lamar Odom, Vince Carter and Delonte West into the rotation.Dallas also labored in two preseason games against Oklahoma City, trailing by more than 20 points in each contest.“I still think this team has a lot of potential,” Nowitzki said. “But we have to turn the corner.”

OKLAHOMA CITY — If Tuesday’s 87-83 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder is any indication, the Dallas Mavericks have some work to do before they can even think about successfully defending their NBA title.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd played in their first and only preseason game, but the results were still the same for the Mavs. The Thunder torched the Mavs with suffocating defense and a series of fast-break dunks en route to winning their second preseason game over Dallas in three nights.

“Overall, we’re going to have to be a lot better. We know that,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “I like our first quarter, I like the latter stages of the fourth quarter — we battled.

“The part in between has been rough, and so we’ve got to work through it.”

Oklahoma City led by as many as 23 points — 74-51 late in the third quarter — before a 30-13 surge by the Mavericks in the fourth made the final score respectable.

It was as if the Thunder was trying to send a message after it was ousted by the Mavericks in five games last season in the Western Conference Finals. But the Mavericks were coy about a loss in the second of two meaningless preseason games.

“Our goal can’t be to be the best team right now,” said Nowitzki, who was 2 of 10 from the floor with six points in 23 minutes. “Our goal is to get better from game to game and get used to each other more, and hopefully be the best team again when it comes to April, May and June.”

What’s really foremost on the Mavericks’ minds is Sunday’s regular-season opener at home against the Miami Heat — the team Dallas thumped to win last year’s NBA championship.

“We’re five days away right now,” forward Shawn Marion said. “We’re keeping our bodies ready and our minds right.

“We’re going to make another run at this. I think we have the talent in this locker room and the mental approach it’s going to take to go out there and get it again.”

Jerome Randle led the Mavericks with 17 points in 18 minutes, Brandan Wright had 12 and Marion added 10. And there were moments when Lamar Odom, Nowitzki and Marion were on the floor at the same time.

“It was cool. I’ve just got to get used to it as time goes on,” said Odom, who collected eight points and three rebounds. “You play the game, you play it to win it.”

Granted, the Mavericks were not at full strength Tuesday night, with guards Jason Terry and Delonte West sitting out because of illness. And Vince Carter, who is expected to be the starting shooting guard against the Heat, also did not play.

Still, the second loss to the Thunder in three days — OKC won 106-92 on Sunday in Dallas — has to be cause for concern.

“Look, we were down two guys tonight, which makes it more challenging,” Carlisle said. “But there’s some good spots to the game and then there’s some areas that we’re looking at and saying, ’Hey, we’re going to be struggling if it goes on like this.’.”

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Dallas Mavericks’ German power forward Dirk Nowitzki, MVP in the Mavericks’ NBA finals triumph in June, is not ruling out the possibility of a move to Europe if the current NBA lock-out continues.

‘This week we are going back to work, Dirk has not touched the ball since the European Championship at the end of September,’ declared Nowitzki’s personal coach Holger Geschwindner, who also said the player was ‘ruling nothing out, even if he has no concrete ideas’ about a switch to Europe.

‘At the moment, Dirk is out of shape. We are going to work hard over the nex two weeks,’ added Geschwindner.

‘If he goes anywhere, he will be going there for the whole season.’

However, Nowitzki’s mentor has not yet abandoned all hope of the NBA season eventually getting underway.

‘There is still a small chance of a breakthrough in the negotiations with the NBA. If not, we will have to find an alternative solution,’ he admitted.

A number of European clubs, particularly in Germany, have already sounded out the 33-year-old.

‘We have to keep all options open and keep an eye on what’s happening abroad,’ Nowitzki said at the end of October.

‘If the lock-out continues, it is something I will really have to think about.’

The failure of owners and players to agree upon a new collective bargaining agreement is responsible for the ongoing NBA lock-out.