Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Oklahoma City Thunder are two of the NBA’s top stars. Both finished in the top three for the Most Valuable Player award last season, with Gilgeous-Alexander taking second place and Doncic coming in third.
On Tuesday, the Mavericks and Thunder will face off in the first round of the NBA Cup knockout stage.
This game is a rematch of last season’s second-round playoff series, which Dallas won 4-2.
Doncic has been in great form since recovering from a right wrist sprain that caused him to miss five games in late November. In the four games since his return, he is averaging 31.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game.
Doncic enters Tuesday’s game with two consecutive triple-doubles.
In Saturday’s win over the Toronto Raptors, Doncic scored 30 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and made 11 assists. This performance moved him past Wilt Chamberlain and James Harden, into seventh place on the NBA’s all-time triple-double list with 79.
“Talking about his skill set and filling up the stat sheet, he’s had two here, he can run them off,” said Dallas coach Jason Kidd. “We always expect him to have a triple-double, or sometimes we take him for granted. Right now, you can see that he’s starting to get into a groove.”
In last season’s playoff series, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.3 assists. Doncic averaged 24.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 8.7 assists, with a triple-double in each of the last three games of the series.
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 30 points in six of his past seven games this season.
Oklahoma City has won seven of its last eight games, including three straight, while the Mavericks come into the game on a seven-game winning streak.
Tuesday’s game, which also counts in the regular-season standings, will be the second matchup between the two teams this season.
Doncic missed the Mavericks’ 121-119 win over Oklahoma City on Nov. 17 due to a bruised right knee. P.J. Washington had 27 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in that game for Dallas.
The game was a close one, which has become a regular pattern in this series. Six of the last nine regular-season games between the teams have been decided by fewer than 10 points.
The first meeting of the season was also one of the Thunder’s last games without Isaiah Hartenstein, a 7-footer who missed the first 15 games of the season due to a hand injury.
Since his return, Hartenstein has helped Oklahoma City adjust after losing Chet Holmgren. In the eight games since he came back, Hartenstein has averaged 11.8 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, a significant increase from his previous seasons where he averaged no more than 2.5 assists per game.
“He’s a phenomenal passer,” said teammate Alex Caruso about Hartenstein. “People don’t talk about him as a passer as a big man in the league. Of course, (Denver’s Nikola) Jokic is in a category of his own, but Hartenstein is still really impressive.”
For the Mavericks, P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall are questionable for Tuesday’s game due to illnesses. Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain) and Maxi Kleber (illness) are confirmed to be out.
Washington was the only one of the four who played in Saturday’s win against Toronto.
