Thunder seek to solve Mavs, Nowitzki

The Oklahoma City Thunder have to be asking themselves one thing heading into Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday night (9 PM ET, ESPN): How in the world are we going to stop Dirk Nowitzki?

Nowitzki went for 48 points and six rebounds in the Dallas Mavericks� 121-112 win over the Thunder in Game 1 on Tuesday night, and the way in which he shredded Oklahoma City was impressive.

Dirk shot 12 of 15 from the floor, didn�t attempt a single three-pointer, and was a perfect 24 of 24 from the line as the Mavericks took home the payday as 6-point favorites at AmericanAirlines Center. The game played �over� the 194.5-point total set at oddsmaker.ag.

A quick look at its roster � and Oklahoma City�s defensive performance on Tuesday � suggests it has no answer for Nowitzki, meaning this could be a quick series.

Serge Ibaka doesn�t have the foot speed to keep up with Dirk, although he put up 17 points and six boards on a bad ankle in the opener. Thabo Sefolosha doesn�t have the height, and while Kevin Durant seems like the man for the job, the last thing Scott Brooks wants is the league�s top scorer fighting Nowitzki for the duration of the series.

Oklahoma City�s plan could be to keep pace with Dirk and the Mavs on the offensive end of the floor and Durant sure did his best job of that in Game 1. Durant dropped 40 points of his own on Tuesday on 10 of 18 from the field and 18 of 19 from the stripe, but it wasn�t enough as the Thunder allowed the Mavericks to shoot 53.4% (39 of 73) on the night.

Nowitzki was the star in Game 1, but Jason Terry was once again a huge difference-maker for Dallas, going for 24 points and a game-high +15 off the bench. When Terry and J.J. Barea (21 points in Game 1) are rolling, the Mavs are close to impossible to beat � as the vanquished Lakers can surely attest.

More importantly for bettors, Dallas ran its ATS record to 14-0-1 in its last 15 games dating back to the regular season, during which it�s gone 13-2 SU. The Mavs' last loss against the number came way back on April 6 when they fell 104-96 at home to Denver (+4).

Dallas is now 3-1 SU and ATS in four meetings with Oklahoma City this season, but its dominance runs deeper than that. Oklahoma City�s only win in the four meetings came with Dirk out of the lineup, something that won�t be the case on Thursday night.

The series shifts to Oklahoma City Arena for Game 3 on Saturday night. The Mavs won both contests SU and ATS played there between the teams during the regular season.