Mavericks set to host NBA champion OKC Thunder on second night of back-to-back

The Dallas Mavericks picked up their first win of the season on Sunday night when they beat the Toronto Raptors, 139-129. It was much-needed, as they lost the first two games of the season to the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards. And with the Oklahoma City Thunder on deck, the Raptors game had to be a win.

For the first time this season, Dallas played a point guard consistently, as D'Angelo Russell played nearly 30 minutes to the tune of 24 points and 6 assists. That put Cooper Flagg in his natural role as a secondary playmaker, and everything just looked much smoother. What Mavs fans saw Sunday night is exactly the type of player every fan thought they were getting when they lucked out and won the draft lottery.

But Monday night is a completely different type of challenge, as the reigning champion OKC Thunder comes to town. Dallas was the only team last year that had OKC's number, going 3-1 against them in the regular season. The Thunder likely haven't forgotten that.

The Thunder have started the season 3-0 despite Jalen Williams not playing yet. Their first two games against the Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers both went to double overtime, while they blew out the Atlanta Hawks, the darlings of the offseason, on Saturday night in a blowout.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is following up his MVP season with an incredible start, averaging 40 PPG through the first three games. He's still taking an absurd amount of free throws (nearly 15 per game), but he's shooting 52.7% from the floor despite shooting just 22.7% from three on over seven attempts per game. Who guards him from the Mavericks will be fascinating to find out.

Chet Holmgren has taken a huge step forward, averaging 24.7 PPG and 10 RPG through the first three games, and he's making up for SGA's inefficiencies from deep, shooting 42.1% from three. They're also getting a huge boost off the bench from second-year guard Ajay Mitchell, while Aaron Wiggins is still a dangerous threat from deep. But those are the only four players averaging double-figures. Dallas will likely do everything the can to force the ball out of SGA's hands.