Dallas, TX
Even without Maxi Kleber, the Mavericks have a favorable matchup against OKC Thunder
There is never a good time, especially in the postseason, to lose a player of Maxi Kleber’s caliber.
But if Mavericks fans are looking for a silver lining after Sunday’s confirmation that Kleber will miss a minimum of three weeks with a right shoulder AC joint separation, there are worse second-round opponents to face under the circumstances than the Thunder.
“Oklahoma’s not a big team,” coach Jason Kidd noted Sunday, after the Mavericks’ first practice in preparation for the Western Conference semifinals, which open Tuesday in Oklahoma City. “We’ve got quite a few bigs that we can go to.”
Not that Kidd in any way is downplaying the significance of losing Kleber, Dallas’ best-defending big man. The reality is there’s nothing the Mavericks can do about Kleber’s absence and, if anything, Dallas on paper has a decided muscle advantage in the middle in this series.
Granted, Thunder rookie sensation Chet Holmgren stands 7-1, but at 195 pounds he will be challenged to contain Mavericks counterparts Daniel Gafford (6-10, 234) and Dereck Lively II (7-1, 230) if they catch the basketball anywhere near the basket.
Starting with MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 57-win, No. 1 seed Oklahoma City has a talent array that belies the team’s average age of 24, with only one basket scored by a player age 25 or older during its first-round sweep of New Orleans.
Dallas’ two most notable matchup advantages, though, are that it has two superstars – Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving – to OKC’s one; and that it has become more physically imposing since the Feb. 8 acquisitions of Gafford and P.J. Washington Jr.
Two days after those trades, Dallas hosted OKC in what would be the Mavericks’ only meeting this season against the Thunder with both Doncic and Irving on the court.
Oklahoma City was playing with three days of rest, but the Mavericks pummeled the Thunder 146-111. Despite playing without Lively (nasal fracture), Dallas outrebounded OKC 54-40 and dominated in paint points, 66-34.
“That’s just a regular-season game; playoffs are a little different,” Kidd said. “But making those trades and having Kai and Luka play for the first time against Oklahoma City, we can look at some of the things that we had success with and hopefully we can do that again on Tuesday.”
Kleber, though, not only played in that Feb. 10 game, but started and finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Kleber was limited to 43 games this season, with 38 of his absences coming as a result of a right small toe dislocation. How important is he to Dallas’ success? The Mavericks were 27-16 with him this season; 23-16 without him.
According to NBA.com tracking, opponents shot 43.1% this season when guarded by Kleber, the lowest percentage among Mavericks.
In the first round playoff series, Clippers players shot 27.9% against Kleber before his scary fall and hard landing in the second quarter of Game 6, when Amir Coffee tried to take a charge – after Kleber became airborne.
“Just seeing one of our family members go down that, we all get hit,” Lively said Sunday. “Just being able to know we’ve got to be able to pick him up, there’s a lot of people who were looking at us; a lot of people was questioning what we were going to do.
“Maxi knows that we’ve got his back and we know that he’s going to do whatever we can to get better. But we’ve got to be able to take it game-by-game. Next man up.”
A Mavericks official on Saturday told The News that Kleber suffered a third-degree sprain of his AC joint ligaments. The Clippers’ Chris Paul in 2014 sustained a similar injury and did not require surgery, but he missed 18 games.
The Mavericks on Sunday announced that Kleber will be re-evaluated in three weeks, seemingly meaning the soonest he would be cleared to practice is May 26.
The conference finals are scheduled to begin May 21-22. If Dallas is able to get past Oklahoma City, they would face either Minnesota – a team with a deep and formidable front court – or Denver and MVP favorite Nikola Jokic. If the Mavericks are still alive then, those are challenges they’ll gladly embrace, with or without Kleber.
Until then, they’ll miss him, but in terms of second-round matchups, it could have been worse.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Kidd said. “It’s on to the next guy.”
Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Dallas, TX
Dallas weather: Record heat to peak Tuesday before gusty thunderstorms arrive
DALLAS – Get ready for a weather whiplash… After Monday’s record-tying heat, the Metroplex faces a week of summery temperatures mixed with rounds of rain and storms.
Tuesday Forecast: Another potential record-breaking day; Temps near 90
What we know:
The unseasonable warmth continues Tuesday, with another potential record-breaking day. The National Weather Service forecasts temperatures near 87 degrees, which would likely tie or break the current record of 83 degrees for the date at DFW. We have a 95% chance of achieving this.
Tuesday will begin with more clouds and a stronger breeze, but remain rain-free. Isolated to scattered showers will be possible, mainly west of I-35. More widespread showers and storms are expected to develop initially to the west Tuesday evening, according to the NWS. A few storms could become strong to severe, bringing locally heavy rainfall.
7-Day Forecast: Rain brings flash flood chances
Rain chances on Wednesday afternoon will be about 20%, particularly south and west of DFW. A few light showers and rumbles are also possible early Wednesday and overnight into Thursday. Wednesday night rain chances will increase to 50%. While flood concerns are relatively low Wednesday, they will ramp up Thursday with a slight potential for flash flooding.
More rain and gusty thunderstorms are expected on Thursday with the potential for heavy rainfall, which could increase flood concerns. 80% of the area is expected to see showers and storms. Commuters should be aware of potential hazards during the Thursday morning commute.
Rain totals through Friday will likely range between one and two inches.
Once the weather system moves out, the area will briefly dry out and see sunshine and cooler conditions Friday, though temperatures will still be in the mid-70s. Rain chances will return this weekend, finally bringing temperatures that feel a little more like November.
Radar: Dallas-Fort Worth
The Source: Information in this article comes from the National Weather Service.
Dallas, TX
Dallas repair shop owner, 4 others arrested in $1 million tire, cargo theft operation
Five men were arrested this month in connection to a $1 million cargo theft operation where tires, rims, more than $32,000, appliances and other merchandise was recovered, Dallas police said.
The five men, who were arrested Nov. 1, are accused of taking part in at least 10 cargo thefts across the Dallas-Fort Worth area that date back to 2022, Dallas police said in a news release this week.
Officers discovered the theft ring after being alerted Nov. 1 of a stolen trailer being pulled by a semi-truck into a repair shop in the 5200 block of University Hills Boulevard, police said.
Officers confirmed the trailer was the one reported stolen by the Benbrook Police Department, then detained the semi-truck driver and two other suspects, police said.
While speaking with the suspects, it was determined that the repair shop owner and manager, who were both there, were also involved in the theft operation, police said.
Further investigation revealed that the repair shop was being used to store stolen cargo, police said. Under a search warrant, police said they seized $32,553 and recovered approximately $1 million in stolen items, including:
- 600 aluminum rims
- a trailer
- a motorcycle
- an ATV
- a car engine
- a refrigerator
- multiple air conditioners
- numerous cases of motor oil
- 795 tires
Dallas police recovered tires, rims, $32,000, appliances, motor oil and other merchandise during a cargo theft operation bust, where five men were arrested at a repair shop in the 5200 block of University Hills Boulevard on November 1, 2025.
Dallas Police Department / Dallas Police Department
The five men arrested all face felony charges, according to police.
Johnny Veail, 39, faces an unauthorized use of a motor vehicle charge.
Abdullah Majeed, 39, Mohammad Husainy, 37, and Anthony Walker, 54, all face a theft of property greater than or equal to $300,000 charge.
Justin Kenney, 37, faces a theft of property greater than or equal to $300,000 and a Benbrook Police Department warrant hold for theft of property less than $150,000.
Dallas, TX
Another injury: Trail Blazers to play Dallas Mavericks without starter
DALLAS — The shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers will play without another key player Sunday night. And it involves another point guard.
Starter Jrue Holiday has been ruled out against the Dallas Mavericks with right calf soreness, leaving the Blazers (6-6) without its top three point guards heading into the final game of a five-game trip.
Holiday was not listed on the team’s initial injury report, but the 6-foot-4 veteran awoke Sunday morning with a balky calf and the Blazers labeled him questionable Sunday afternoon. He tested it out during a pregame warmup at American Airlines Center and was later ruled out.
Multiple Blazers players were unaware of Holiday’s injury until about an hour and 15 minutes before tipoff, when news started spreading through the locker room that he would be sidelined.
Portland interim coach Tiago Splitter, who held a pregame interview with reporters before learning that Holiday had been ruled out, said he likely would start Jerami Grant in Holiday’s place. That would leave the Blazers without a true point guard in the lineup, forcing Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe to assume primary ball-handling responsibilities.
Holiday, who is averaging 16.7 points, 8.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, leads the Blazers in assists this season.
The Blazers are already playing without a pair of point guards — Scoot Henderson and Blake Wesley — who have played a combined six games this season. Henderson has been sidelined all season with a left hamstring injury, and Wesley has missed the last six games with a fracture in his right foot.
Holiday’s injury was harsh pregame news for a team that has stumbled to losses in four of its last six games, including three of four on its early-November trip to Miami, Orlando, New Orleans and Houston. The Blazers are coming off their most lopsided defeat of the season, a 140-116 loss at Houston on Friday night that prompted a players-only meeting afterward.
“Next man up is part of the NBA,” Splitter said, when asked about Holiday’s injury. “Everybody has got to be ready.”
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