Preview: Thunder (5-0) at Mavericks (1-4)

Earl K. Sneed previews the Mavericks' home matchup with the unbeaten Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, as the defending champions try to end a four-in-five-nights stretch by hanging the first L on their emerging Western Conference rival.

DALLAS -- When is a rivalry actually considered a rivalry?

Is it based on geographic proximity? If so, the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder have that with the two Western Conference powers separated by just Interstate 35 and the Red River.

Or is when two teams traditionally meet up in the postseason with season-ending elimination at stake, as Thunder coach Scott Brooks stated he believes after being asked the question when the two squads met up twice in the preseason.

Although the defending champion Mavericks (1-4) ran through the Thunder in five games of the conference finals en route to last season’s title, Brooks is still not ready to consider the two franchises archenemies just yet. But the coach admits that will perhaps all change if the Mavs and Thunder (5-0) do in fact face off again in the playoffs this year after four regular-season games.

"They're the defending champs. They earned it. They deserve to be with what they accomplished last year,” Brooks said. “But we know that we have to play good basketball to beat any team in this league, and you have to play really well to beat the Dallas Mavericks."

After falling to a 104-102 road defeat last Thursday night on a last-second 3-pointer by Kevin Durant, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle has a similar respect for the Thunder. Carlisle also acknowledges that his team will likely have to once again go through the duo of the two-time scoring champion and All-Star lead guard Russell Westbrook if Dallas is going to return to the NBA Finals.

Monday night, the team heavily thought of as the favorite in the West -- the Thunder -- and the reigning titleholders square off for the second time in the first six games of the 2011-12 season. And there will certainly be no love lost as the two neighbors appear to be on another collision course for more postseason sparks.

"It's a great test," Carlisle said of the matchup. "They're gonna tax you in a lot of different ways. They're gonna tax you transition-wise, they're gonna tax you with their ability to disrupt and they turn live-ball turnovers into baskets faster than anybody in basketball. And their transition game is probably the fastest of anybody in the league. So, we're gonna have to be thinking right. We're gonna have to be decisive, efficient, all those things. And it's the right team to play at the right time."

He added: “Admittedly, these guys [the Thunder] are the kind of team that can just jump up over you after you’ve played good defense and make shots.”

Now, the Mavs confess whatever they accomplished last season does them no service this time around, as the Thunder seek retribution after being halted in its own journey to the Larry O’Brien Trophy. And with the Mavs limping to a 1-4 start to the 66-game schedule after Sunday night's 99-82 loss in Minnesota, even more importance lies on the early-season test.

Still, the goal remains the same for the new-look Mavs, hoping to once again defeat all challengers in the way of repeating as champions.

“The games are going to keep coming. We have to address the things that need to be addressed and get ready to play the next one,” Carlisle added. “There’s no other thing for us to do right now. We’re still looking at different lineups, but there are no excuses … everyone has to play. We just have to play better.”

“Go out and try and take it game by game and go get ‘em,” newcomer Lamar Odom said of the rough start. “All we can do now is take our time and chip away.”

Odom -- like fellow new pieces Delonte West, Vince Carter, Sean Williams and Brandan Wright -- is trying to adjust to Carlisle's playbook and system on the fly, taking the court nightly with limited practice time with his new teammates and admittedly struggling to 6-of-37 shooting from the field in five games. But although the on-the-court time hasn't been sufficient for Odom and the rest of the new supporting cast, the Mavs aren't out to make excuses for their sluggish start, knowing that every team they face will continue to bring its best effort every night while trying to upstage the champs.

"We've got a lot of new pieces and we’re trying to do this on the run. And so, we’re going to make mistakes and we just need to try and get better,” veteran point guard Jason Kidd explained.

The Mavs will try to put it all together back in the friendly confines of the American Airlines Center, lining up opposite of an unbeaten Thunder team. With that said, Carlisle admits he and his players will have to find a way to slow down the high-octane Oklahoma City offense led by Durant, who outdueled Dirk Nowitzki the first go-round with a game-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 3-for-5 from 3-point range (including the game-winning shot) to go with 11 rebounds.

The coach will also look for his team to finish off a stretch of four games in five nights by playing from in front starting with the opening tipoff, instead of facing an early deficit and falling in a constant uphill climb as was the case Sunday in Minneapolis.

“What we’re going to have to do is do a better job of not allowing guys to play well. We made some good runs (Sunday night), but it’s very difficult playing from behind in this league. It’s become too much of a consistent theme. We’ve got to correct it. We’ve got to be really good at the beginning of games and we have to carry it forward,” Carlisle said.

And if the Mavs can do just that they could be standing on the winning side of a budding rivalry by night's end.

Note: The team returns to Dallas to face off with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, looking to avenge Thursday night’s 104-102 road loss. The game will air on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Rivalry Pack: Aside from being a season ticket holder, the only way for Mavs fans to attend either of the two Los Angeles Lakers games is through the Rivalry Pack. Tickets to the Feb.22 and March 21 games vs. the Los Angeles Lakers can be purchased as part of a three-game package that includes one (1) of the three premium games and two (2) additional regular season games.

RPL Nights: RPL Nights return for the sixth season and will feature special discounted tickets for 10 pre-selected games. Tickets normally priced $9 will be $2, $15 will be $10, $31 will be $20 and $42 will be $32.