Dallas @ Oklahoma City preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 27, 2017 ) Oklahoma City 92, Dallas 91

The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back from a brutal road trip to score a big win at home, and they look to make it two in a row at Chesapeake Bay Arena when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. The Thunder dropped all three games of their recent swing and had lost four in a row overall while averaging 93.3 points before righting the ship in their return home on Friday.

Paul George erupted for a season-high 42 points and Oklahoma City shot a season-best 51.3 percent in a 120-111 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. "It really is just chemistry," George told reporters. "When I got here, one of the talks we had about what was best with offense was the movement. Coach (Billy) Donovan was happy that he could utilize me in that situation of moving and getting some flow in offense, so I'm comfortable with that. It's good for me to get going and move around a little bit." The Mavericks have been a bit more competitive in recent days, first snapping a six-game slide with an impressive win at Washington and then giving Cleveland all it could handle in Saturday's 111-104 loss. Harrison Barnes scored 23 points in the setback and is averaging 24.3 over a four-game span.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Oklahoma

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (2-11): Nerlens Noel failed to see any action in Saturday's loss as the young center's role on a last-place squad continues to dwindle. Noel opened the season by making all nine of his shot attempts while averaging 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks over the first two games and started five of the team's first eight contests, but he has been a non-factor in November. Coach Rick Carlisle told reporters on Saturday that Salah Mejri has "earned the minutes" over Noel as the 7-2 Tunisian is averaging eight points on 6-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds over his last two games.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (5-7): Oklahoma City was 0-7 in games decided by 10 points or fewer and 0-6 against Western Conference opponents before the nine-point win over the Clippers. "We made good decisions, we had good ball movement, we made the extra pass," Russell Westbrook, who recorded 22 points and eight assists, told reporters. Carmelo Anthony finished with 14 points and has been held below the 20-point mark in five of his last six games after opening the season with six consecutive 20-point efforts.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki needs eight made baskets to tie Hakeem Olajuwon (10,749) for eighth place on the all-time list.

2. Thunder C Steven Adams (calf) missed Friday's win and is day-to-day.

3. The Thunder have won the last three meetings at home and Westbrook scored 45 points in the most recent matchup in Oklahoma City on Jan. 26.

PREDICTION: Thunder 114, Mavericks 97