The Western Conference’s No. 1 seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25), will take on the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks (50-32) in the 2024 Western Conference semifinals. It’s the first postseason meeting between the two franchises since 2016, when Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Co. dispatched a long-in-the-tooth Dirk Nowitzki in a spicier-than-you-might-remember five games.
How the Thunder got here
With very little wasted motion.
After finishing atop the West behind a top-five offense led by MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a top-five defense backstopped by Rookie of the Year runner-up Chet Holmgren, the Thunder made their playoff debut against the undermanned Pelicans … and took care of business.