The Dallas Mavericks are hard to beat at the best of times. The task becomes nearly impossible when Dirk Nowitzki is in the midst of an NBA playoff record performance.

Nowitzki set a postseason record with 24 free throws made without a miss in the Mavericks’ 121-112 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night, as Dallas covered as 6-point favorites at AmericanAirlines Center.

Game 2 is set for Thursday night, and SBGGlobal.com has the Mavs as 5.5-point chalk for the affair. The total is listed at 199.5 after the teams blew past the 194.5-point number in the opener.

Dirk had everything to do with ‘over’ bettors’ winning tickets on Tuesday. In addition to his record-perfect 24 of 24 showing at the foul line, Nowitzki was a super-efficient 12 of 15 (80.0%) from the field to finish with 48 points, as he finished with the highest-ever field goal percentage in a West Finals game for a player attempting at least 15 shots.

While Dirk’s great game got all the press, Dallas backers are also bolstered by the continued strong play of the Mavs’ bench, particularly the backcourt duo of Jason Terry and J.J. Barea.

Picking up right where he left off in Dallas’ four-game sweep of the Lakers in the second round, Terry came off the pine to drop 24 points and was a team-high +15. Barea added 21 points in Game 1 for the Mavericks, who are 14-0-1 ATS (13-2 SU) in their last 15 games dating back to the regular season.

Dallas has won seven straight games SU and ATS since being knotted at two games apiece in their opening round set with Portland, but it’s still providing plenty of value on the futures board. The Mavs are priced as +225 underdogs to win the NBA title, while the Thunder (+900) are serious longshots after dropping Game 1.

If there’s a silver lining for Oklahoma City bettors it’s that it’s now paying out at +310 to win the West, while Dallas is priced at -380. Kevin Durant was brilliant in the opener with 40 points and eight rebounds, and was 18 of 19 from the stripe in the shadow of Nowitzki’s epic game.

That said, the Mavericks appear to be a bad matchup for the Thunder. Oklahoma City has only one win against Dallas in four meetings (1-3 ATS) including the regular season, and that victory came with Dirk sitting out with a knee injury.

Game 3 goes on Saturday night at Oklahoma City Arena, where the Mavs defeated the Thunder twice both SU and ATS in the season series.