In the final showdown of the second round of SB Nation's NBA 3 on 3 Tournament, the Oklahoma City Thunder face their dreaded rivals from Texas, the Dallas Mavericks.
NBA 3 on 3 Tournament Round Two -- Oklahoma City Thunder Vs. Dallas Mavericks
The Thunder threesome of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Nick Collison won their first round game pretty handily, but the panel seemed perturbed that both James Harden and Serge Ibaka had been bypassed in favor or Collison. Was that selection brave or foolhardy? Still, it would not seem that OKC needs more offense with Durant and Westbrook on the floor, so one sees the logic.
The Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki (who is joined by Delonte West and Elton Brand) and when you have an offensive force as unstoppable as Nowitzki, you will always have a chance. You could expect to see a ton of isolation if this game ever took place, since this game features some of the most prolific one-on-one scorers in the game.
Let’s see what our panel of experts has to say.
- Tom Ziller, SB Nation NBA, Sactown Royalty -- Oklahoma City wins 14 of 20
- Andrew Sharp, SB Nation -- Oklahoma City wins 11 of 20
- Steve Perrin, SB Nation, Clips Nation -- Oklahoma City wins 14 of 20
- J.R Wilco, Pounding the Rock -- Oklahoma City wins 15 of 20
- CA Clark, Silver Screen and Roll -- Oklahoma City wins 14 of 20
- Probability to win any given game -- Oklahoma City 68 percent; Dallas 32 percent
- Probability to win series -- Oklahoma City 75.83 percent; Dallas 24.17 percent
Expert Comments:
Leaving off Harden or Ibaka is going to cost them dearly eventually. -- Ziller
Would this be the best matchup of the second round? Brand-Collison is a solid matchup, Delonte-Westbrook the same, and then... Dirk-Durant? LET’S GO. The Thunder get the edge here, but only because of Westbrook. The Durant-Dirk matchup would be a push, and God it’s glorious to think about them going back-and-forth for 20 games. -- Sharp
Dirk can only do so much. The Thunder are relentless and cover all the bases. I’d pay to see this matchup actually happen, but I can’t imagine Dallas taking more than one of every four. -- Wilco
I’m not sure anybody on OKC can stop Nowitzki, but I am sure nobody on Dallas can stop either Durant or Russ. A few of these games go to the first team that gets a stop. -- Clark
The Bottom Line
Oklahoma City gets the nod from the panelists, but even with the Thunder a 68 percent favorite to win any given game, the Mavericks still have about a one in four chance to pull off the upset in the series and go through to the conference semis.
All that’s left to do now is to roll the dice. The Thunder will be looking for rolls of 68 or lower, the Mavericks want to see a 69 or higher.
Who do you think would win this one?
The results will be posted at 5 p.m. ET.
For a complete look at the SB Nation 3 on 3 Tournament, check back with this StoryStream.
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