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 "It was a difficult game for everybody," Thunder center Enes Kanter
said. "They rested their guys, but like I always say, we can't worry
about what they're doing. We can only focus on what we do on the
court and play basketball."
Kevin Durant scored 29 points to lead Oklahoma City. He shot nine of
14 from the field to go with 10 rebounds and four assists, while
Serge Ibaka added 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Thunder improved
to 28-12.
Playing without all five starters, the Mavericks were paced by J.J.
Barea, who had 18 points and six assists. Raymond Felton added 14
points on three of 11 shooting as the Mavs fell to 22-18.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle liked the way his team competed under
difficult circumstances and singled out Barea for praise.
"(Barea) is a walking breathing, stubborn, competitor. That's why
he's been a really terrific 10-year player," added Carlisle. "He's
not going to back down. The bigger the moment, the bigger the
challenge, the more he is going to rise to it. I think we have a
team of competitors."
It took a couple of minutes for Oklahoma City to get themselves
interested when the game started. Without Dallas having their normal
cast of rivals on the court for Durant, Ibaka and Russell Westbrook
to focus on, they came out with a lackluster look.
But the mismatches quickly started to become apparent. Felton was
forced to defend Durant, who scored 11 points in the opening
quarter.
The Mavericks had no players to turn to in order to change the tide.
Barea tried to provide the needed offense and keep the contest
close.
However, midway through the second quarter, Barea got tangled up
with Westbrook and started a shoving match between the two teams and
several technical fouls were issued.
"It was a regular foul, then (Westbrook) threw his arm, and then it
went a little crazy after that," Barea said. "I was there. I wasn't
backing down. He started pushing, I started grabbing, he grabbed
me."
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The altercation just seemed to motivate Durant, who then hit a pair
of three-pointers and threw down a dunk on rookie forward Justin
Anderson.
The Barea-Westbrook feud flared up again late in the first half and
Westbrook was hit with his second technical foul and ejected from
game. However, the Thunder still led 65-42 at halftime.
"That's how Barea is. He's a chippy player," Durant said. "I mean,
he has to be that way. He's the smallest guy in the league, one of
the toughest guys in the league as well. So we knew he was going to
try and add a little something to the game, but we did a good job
keeping our heads."
With Devin Harris injuring his foot and Charlie Villanueva ejected
with two technicals, Dallas were down to eight players in the second
half. Even without Westbrook to keep Oklahoma City's offense
humming, they were still too much for the shorthanded Mavs.
"We got it down by 29 and got it back to 12 or 14 and they had to
bring their starters back in," Carlisle said. "You have got to just
keep playing and they did and I am proud of the way that our guys
competed."
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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