The Dallas Mavericks (16-8) will face the Oklahoma City Thunder (18-5) in the quarterfinals of the NBA Emirates Cup. The Mavericks game is on the road and will be played on TNT starting at 8:30 p.m. CST. This competition should be very intense considering these two teams play so well, don’t particularly like each other and there are real risks at stake (and there are, don’t listen to the naysayers). Here are the most important things you should know:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
• WHAT: The quarterfinals of the NBA Emirates Cup
• WHERE: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City Thunder
• WHEN: 8:30 Clock CST
• HOW: TNT and also playback with Kirk, Matthew and David

At the time of writing (3:00 p.m. CST), Jaden Hardy, Maxi Kleber and Dante Exum are out. Kleber is the latest to be struck by the mysterious illness that has plagued the team since joining the Miami Heat. PJ Washington and Naji Marshall are listed as questionable with the same medical condition. On the Thunder side, Chet Holmgren is out with a broken hip. Jaylen Williams is also missing this game with a hamstring injury.

There’s a lot to explore on the site today if you haven’t checked out yet. Matt wrote a much longer and better preview than this one. Brent wrote the Betting Guide post as well as this column about fast starts and what they mean and don’t mean. There’s the ridiculous Jimmy Butler trade rumor we had to deal with. Jason Gallagher and I had a long conversation about the MVP award and the narrative surrounding it. There’s also this fun news that Dirk Nowitzki could be in the running for the announcer role when Amazon Prime gets NBA games.

As you can see below, you can join me and a few other Mavs Moneyball people in a room on Playback (embedded below) during the game (although I may not be able to start until halftime). Also consider joining Josh and I at Pod Maverick Live after the game on YouTubewe were supposed to start around 11:30 p.m. Thank you for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go, Mavs!