Are the Dallas Mavericks Rivals With OKC Thunder?

It is August. The dead month in the NBA calendar. Basketball has become a year-round sport and for 11 of the 12 months, there is always something to be done in the sport. Training camp opens up in September and the league is off to the races until the end of Summer League in July.

Today? Nothing. Everyone is on vacation or counting down to the start of the next season – or both.

So when the conversation shifts shifts to manufactured rivalries, it isn't surprising.

"I view Dallas as a pre-eminent threat because they've always got OKC's number," Stephen A. Smith said on the Gilbert Arenas Podcast. "If you look at them last year, even when Luka was down, they still beat them. Oklahoma City is running through everybody except Dallas. They run into Dallas without Luka. Dallas beat them. They run into Dallas with Kyrie, Dallas beats them. For some reason, Dallas has their number. And they know how to play against them. And I think because of that reality, you cannot dismiss the Dallas Mavericks as a threat."

This is a half-truth. Not to shove the Mavericks to the side, but this is a bit misleading. Dallas dispatched of Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs in a series that sparked intense moments and came down to the wire with a point differential of zero.

The Thunder were outmatched in that series, without the center depth to compete and with Josh Giddey being glued to the bench down the stretch of the best-of-seven set, given his weakness off the ball.

In the 2024-25 campaign, the OKC Thunder rattled off 68 wins over the course of the season with a 1-3 record against the Dallas Mavericks. Though, in the first meeting the Thunder were missing any healthy center plopping Jalen Williams in the middle of the floor. In the second loss to Dallas, Oklahoma City missed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. In the third and final loss, Oklahoma City was center-less yet again, with just Jaylin Williams available.

During the 2024-25 season, the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers to take some of the zest out of this rivalry, as Doncic was at the center of plenty of memorable moments between these two foes. On the flip side, the Thunder hoisted its first Larry O'Brien trophy in team history. Proving to be head and shoulders above Dallas despite the 1-3 record against the Mavs.

Now, the Mavericks enter the regular season with a new lease on life, bailed out for the head-scratching move of Nico Harrison at the past deadline by being gifted the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg, in the lottery.

With Kyrie Irving sidelined to start the season, unlikely to make his return before the All-Star Break, it is unclear how the Thunder's early season matchups with the Mavericks will look.

The Mavericks still project to have a top-flight defense this season regardless of Irving's timeline. Right of the gates rostering Anthony Davis, Flagg, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, P.J. Washington, Nnaji Marshall and company there is no shortage of stoppers in Dallas.

Though, the difference now is not only do the Thunder roster the best defense in the NBA but when healthy have erased the size disparity with the Holmgren and Hartenstein duo that carried them down the stretch of the season with added front court depth to mix with the step the Arkansas big man has taken now as the third string man in the middle for OKC.

These games this regular season will be must-watch for defensive minded basketball fans. They should breed physical, fun and aggressive hoops that resonate with throwback hoops fans and the two markets the teams reside in.

With that physicality, comes chippy-ness and neither side will back down from the other. Oklahomans and Texans have hated each other since the dawn of time for these two states. The fanbases don't like each other, the players will quickly feel that as well.

In a league devoid of (sports) hatred and rivalries, the Thunder and Mavericks displaying a no love lost event three times this season would be great for the NBA, especially with the discourse around these two with the local fanbases. Oklahoma City and Dallas are absolutely rivals. But it doesn't catapult Dallas to the front of the line as contenders to the Thunder's throne.

OKC Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks Schedule

• Oct. 27 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Dallas Mavericks
• Dec. 5 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks
• March 1 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Dallas Mavericks