Mavs-Thunder primer: Luka likely to sit, but Mavs have new weapon

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mavericks will be making their only regular-season trip to Oklahoma on Sunday to face a Thunder team that has looked quite formidable.

The Thunder has won six of their last eight home games and are 2-1 in their last three games overall, with one of the wins being a 150-117 blasting of the Boston Celtics.

You may remember that the Celtics after that game came to Dallas and buried the Mavericks.

Welcome to the NBA.

With the Mavericks playing their second game in two nights, it’s entirely possible that they will have to dip deeper into their bench than usual. It remains to be seen whether they will rest anybody, including Luka Dončić, who has racked up a slew of minutes over the last two weeks.

Asked about whether 39 minutes against New Orleans will impact Luka’s availability for the OKC game, Jason Kidd said: “Isn’t it obvious.” Then he added: “We’ll see how he feels.”

He got no break on Saturday, playing throughout the second half until the game against New Orleans was firmly in control for the final possessions.

Meanwhile, the back-to-back situation likely means more opportunities for players like Jaden Hardy, who has become a strong asset the last few games with the Mavericks fighting fatigue and injury issues.

The rookie played well at the end of the Boston game, when the outcome was decided. Coach Jason Kidd said that showing was reason enough to get Hardy rotation minutes in the first half against New Orleans on Saturday. He finished with 15 points in 21 minutes.

“Late in the game (against Boston), he played the right way.” Kidd said. “You saw his energy and his speed. Hopefully in the next three games we can figure out how to get him some minutes in the rotation to see how he handles that.

“He’s improved in every area this year. We’ll see how it goes. He’s working extremely hard. And he’s fearless, as we saw the other night.”

Hardy is relentlessly aggressive and while he makes mistakes defensively, such as his first-half foul on a three-point shooter, they are aggressive mistakes and will provide Kidd and his staff loads of teaching moments.

Here’s what else you need to know about the Mavericks’ visit to OKC:

• The Mavericks will be without Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Green, who is getting closer to returning than the other two. Kleber, it was reported by TNT during Thursday’s telecast, could return after the All-Star break. To which Kidd said: “I don’t want to jump the gun and say that’s true. But what I did see yesterday (Friday) is he did shoot. He did walk around the court. I don’t know the timetable of when he’s coming back.” The Thunder are without Chet Holmgren, their top draft pick (No. 2 overall), who is out for the season.
• The Thunder can score. They have averaged 130.7 points in the last three games, including 150 against Boston. In a 127-110 win over Washington on Friday, four of the Thunder’s starters had 18 points or more, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 30. The Thunder shot 46 percent from three-point range in that win (17-of-37).
• The last four meetings between these teams have been decided by seven points or fewer, including the 117-111 overtime win Oklahoma City scored at American Airlines Center in October. The Mavericks have won their last three trips to OKC.
• This is the start of a five-game trip for the Mavericks, which goes on to Los Angeles for games against the Clippers and Lakers and concludes with two games in Portland.

DALLAS MAVERICKS (23-17) at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (17-22)

When: 6 p.m., Sunday.

Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City.

TV: Bally’s Sports Southwest.

Radio: 97.1 FM, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

Twitter: @ESefko