After years of parity in the NBA, it looks like the Oklahoma City Thunder have figured out the recipe for a dynasty. Less than six months removed from winning the first championship in franchise history, they’ve started the 2025-26 season with a 22-1 record.
Their latest victory came at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, who, after a brief resurgence following Anthony Davis’ return to the lineup, cooled down significantly in the 132-111 loss. Unfortunately, according to his teammate, Ryan Nembhard, the former NBA Champion may have factored into the loss in a major gameplan-altering way.
Anthony Davis Gameplan Spoils the Day for the Mavericks
As the Mavericks started the season 5-14, Davis was out of the lineup for a majority of the stretch, returning in an NBA Cup loss against his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, though, he played a major role as the team went on a three-game winning streak (Davis played in two of the three matches).
Unfortunately, going up against a legitimate juggernaut in Oklahoma City, their luck ran out, as they got blasted en route to a blowout win for the defending champions. During the game, AD served as one of the biggest problems for Dallas.
Logging 24 minutes of action, he finished with just two points while shooting 1-9 from the field. While he added eight rebounds and six assists, he was unable to make a major impact defensively either, finishing with just one block.
After the game, Nembhard placed the blame on the entire team and the game plan going into the contest, as he claimed, “I think we were a little too focused on getting him the ball.” After being fronted all night, while a second man stood behind him, it was hard for the superstar power forward to truly take over the game.
Ryan Nembhard said “I think we’re a little too focused” on getting Anthony Davis the ball.
He said the team could have got two feet in the paint more. pic.twitter.com/u3HPkfjMEH
— Ron Harrod Jr. (@RonKnowsSports) December 6, 2025
Instead, the rookie explained, “We could have done some other things, touched the paint, and done some other things.” Clearly, the idea did not work out as intended for the squad, as Oklahoma was able to run roughshod over them.
With rumors of a trade that could package Davis out of Dallas as a major talking point after the organization moved on from general manager Nico Harrison, it should be interesting to see what the future holds for him.
Since coming back, he’s been a mixed bag in his four games, but the Mavericks have to be hoping that he can get his value up in the following weeks to potentially net a bigger gain in a trade.
