Thunder vs. Mavericks series odds, prediction: Oklahoma City opens as slight favorites

Oddsmakers are expecting a tight series between the Thunder and Mavericks. 

The Thunder have opened as the early series favorite, coming in at -122 at FanDuel Sportsbook to advance to the Western Conference Finals. 

The Mavericks, who eliminated the Clippers during the first round on Friday night, are +100 to take down Oklahoma City. 

Vegas bookies are expecting the series to be a long one too.

FanDuel has pegged the series game over/under at 5.5, but a ton of juice is on the Over (-180), indicating that the sportsbook is anticipating it to go six or seven games. 

It’s easily the tightest series spread of the semifinal round — both the Knicks and Nuggets are heavy favorites heading into their matchups against the Pacers and Timberwolves, respectively, and the Celtics will almost certainly be even bigger favorites against the winner of Cavaliers-Magic.

Oklahoma City had Dallas’ number in the regular season, going 3-1 in their four matchups, although only one of those games featured a healthy Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. 

Both teams are part of the second tier of title contenders as the NBA heads into the second round of the playoffs. 

The Thunder, who became the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA history with a 57-win regular season, have the third-best odds to win the championship (+850). 

Betting on the NBA?

The Mavericks are a notch below at +1000, which is tied with the Timberwolves and Knicks for the fourth-best on the board at FanDuel. 

The Celtics (+120) and Nuggets (+300), who have been Finals contenders since before the season started, remain head and shoulder above the pack in terms of their title chances. 

The Thunder and Mavericks will tip-off on Tuesday in Oklahoma City at 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT.