Mavs Lose To Thunder
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback that threatened a fifth consecutive home game going to overtime, but the Oklahoma City Thunder survived one last defensive possession for a 109-106 victory on Friday night at American Airlines Center that extended their winning streak to seven.
“Overall, it was one of those games when you are on the road and it is never pretty,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “When you play against a good team, you have to weather some of those storms and some of those difficult moments, and I thought our guys did that.”
Dallas trailed by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter but whittled it to 107-106 after third-string center Salah Mejri, receiving rare playing time late in the game, stuffed Thunder forward Kevin Durant at the rim.
Mavs guard Deron Williams followed with a 3-pointer that made it a one-point game and sent the sellout crowd into a tizzy.
Durant then sank a free-throw jumper with 54.8 seconds left to make it a three-point lead again. From there, Mavs guard Wesley Matthews missed a 3-pointer, but at the other end, Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was called for a moving screen, giving Dallas the ball back with 17 seconds to go and a chance to add to their NBA-record home overtime streak.
But Williams had his 3-pointer tipped by Ibaka, forward Dirk Nowitzki couldn’t connect on a 3-pointer and a third attempt by forward Chandler Parsons from the corner also failed to drop.
“We missed too many 50-50 balls. We got killed on the
boards,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, noting the Thunder’s 47-33 rebounding advantage. “It’s not all about scoring. There are just too many other things that went wrong. The third quarter was a debacle; that was very poorly played by us and really well played by them. That doomed us.”
Six Oklahoma City players scored in double figures, led by Durant’s 24 points. He added seven assists.
A dominating 31-11 start to the third quarter quickly erased the Thunder’s eight-point halftime deficit and ultimately was the difference in the game.
The Mavericks, who lead the league in wins after trailing by 10 points or more, nearly did it again, outscoring the Thunder 32-24 in the fourth quarter.
Durant was only 2 of 8 from beyond the arc, but the two he hit in the third quarter were key in opening some separation once the Thunder grabbed the lead.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook finished with 16 points, seven assists and eight rebounds. Ibaka had 14 points, and three bench players added to the double-digit scoring with backup center Enes Kanter getting 16, guard Dion Waiters scoring 13 and Kyle Singler adding 10.
Oklahoma City guard Cameron Payne added eight points with some key buckets in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we had a good mixture of the starting unit and bench play,” Durant said. “The bench came out huge, point blank. The bench won that game for us tonight.
“The starters didn’t play so well, but that’s why you have a whole team. The bench came up huge for us tonight and made big plays all night. We were able to ride their coattails a little bit and get this win.
“But throughout this win streak, defensively we’ve been playing pretty good, with the exception of the first half. In the second half, the defense was amazing. But throughout these seven games, we’ve been guarding and we’ve been passing the ball, and we’ve been in a nice groove.”
Parsons put together a second consecutive strong game, finishing with a game-high 26 points and logging 37 minutes. Williams had 22 points and Nowitzki finished with 14.
A first half marked by big momentum swings — the Mavericks led by 11 early and the Thunder responded with a 19-2 spurt — was closed by Dallas reeling off a 10-2 run in the final 3:51 for a 56-48 halftime advantage.
The Mavs shot better than 50 percent in the opening half against a team ranked No. 2 in defensive efficiency in the Western Conference since Jan. 1.
Dallas benefited from going 8 of 20 from beyond the arc, netting a 21-point advantage over Oklahoma City, which was just 1 of 12 from beyond the arc in the opening 24 minutes.
That changed in the second half with the Thunder nailing seven 3-point shots.
“I credit them. Obviously, they are an elite team for a reason,” Matthews said. “They are a great third-quarter team. We may have come out a bit sluggish. Again, some of the shots that we took, if they go in they are taking it right out of the net and going full speed down back at us.”
