Mavs Edged By Thunder

The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110 in overtime Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center.  The Mavericks led by seven (91-84) midway through the fourth quarter, but the Thunder used a 16-7 run go up by two (100-98) with 1:23 left in regulation. Oklahoma City hit four 3-pointers during the 16-7 run.

Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career points with a one-legged fadeaway jumper over Jerami Grant at the 7:57 mark of the second quarter (the basket gave him seven points for the game and exactly 31,000 for his career). Nowitzki finished with 12 points on the night and now has 31,005 for his career. Wilt Chamberlain ranks fifth ahead of Nowitzki on the league’s all-time scoring list with 31,419 career points.
Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes tallied a team-high 26 points (9-16 FGs, 3-4 3FGs, 5-5 FTs) to go along with five rebounds, five assists and two steals in 39 minutes. He posted his 25th 20-point effort of the season. It was also his ninth game with at least 25 points this year. Barnes led Dallas in scoring for the team-high 29th time this season.




Mavericks big man Dwight Powell registered a career-high-tying 21 points (10-13 FGs) to go along with a team-high eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in 37 minutes. He forced overtime with a put-back layup at the buzzer (it tied the game at 100). Powell scored 21 points for the second time this season and the third time in his career (all three of his career 20-point outings have been exactly 21-point games). Powell scored 17-plus points for the sixth time in his last 10 games, after he did so just once in his first 51 games of the season. In the Mavericks’ 10 games during the month of February, Powell averaged 14.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29.1 minutes per game. He shot 61.8 percent (55-of-89) from the field in that span (2/3-2/28).
Mavericks rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. recorded 17 points, including Dallas’ first eight points of overtime, to go along with six assists in 40 minutes. Smith has now scored in double figures in 25 of his last 26 games.
Mavericks guard J.J. Barea had 12 points and a game-high-tying seven assists in 26 minutes off the bench. He scored all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter (Barea had 12 of Dallas’ 24 fourth-quarter points). It was Barea’s ninth straight game with five-plus assists (39th this season). He led the Mavericks in assists for the fifth consecutive game (36th time this season).  




Mavericks center Nerlens Noel returned (after missing the previous 36 games recovering from left thumb surgery) and pitched in four points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 16 minutes off the bench.
Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook totaled a game-high 30 points (11-25 FGs, 8-9 FTs), including 20 in the first half (10 in each of the first two quarters), to go along with 11 rebounds, a team-high seven assists, a team-high three steals and a game-high nine turnovers in 42 minutes. It marked his 44th double-double in 61 games this season (297th double-double of his career). Westbrook scored 30-plus points for the 20th time this year. Oklahoma City improved to 7-2 this season when he records at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game.
Thunder forward Paul George notched his third double-double of the season (66th career) with 23 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, one steal and six turnovers in 42 minutes. It was his 38th game with at least 20 points this year.
The Mavericks played their third overtime game of the season, falling to 0-3 in such games.
The Mavericks began the game on a 9-4 run, but the Thunder responded with a 15-0 burst and turned the five-point deficit into a 10-point advantage (19-9).
Dallas trailed by 11 (54-43) at the half, but began the third quarter on a 21-10 run and evened the score at 64 midway through the period.
Dorian Finney-Smith (left knee quadriceps tendinitis) and Seth Curry (left leg surgery) remained out for Dallas. Johnathan Motley and Jalen Jones were on assignment with the Mavericks’ G-League affiliate, the Texas Legends. Andre Roberson (left patellar surgery) remained out for Oklahoma City. Daniel Hamilton was on assignment with Oklahoma City’s G-League affiliate.
The attendance for Wednesday’s game was 20,202. The Mavericks have now sold out 669 consecutive regular-season home games, which is an NBA-best sellout streak. The streak began on 12/15/01 and Dallas has sold out an additional 67 playoff games during that same stretch.

The Mavericks’ next game is at Chicago on March 2 at 7:00 p.m. CT.



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