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 "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."
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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."
NOTES: Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki returned to the starting lineup
after missing one game because of swelling in his right knee. ... G
Raymond Felton returned the rotation after missing one game with a
swollen left eye. ... Thunder C Steven Adams was a late scratch with
an elbow strain suffered in pregame warmups. Nick Collison took his
spot in the starting lineup. ... Coach Rick Carlisle, who is head of
the NBA coaches association, was highly critical of the Cleveland
Cavaliers for firing coach David Blatt on Friday, saying, "I'm
embarrassed for our league that something like this could happen."
... No Mavs player was selected to be a Western Conference All-Star
starter when voting results for both conferences were announced
Thursday. But in a surprise, thanks to several Internet campaigns to
generate fan votes, C Zaza Pachulia came less than 15,000 votes from
nabbing a starting spot. Pachulia, averaging a double-double of 10.5
points and 10.8 rebounds, has never made an All-Star team. ...
Dallas is coming off an NBA-record fourth consecutive overtime game
at home. ...Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were
both voted to the Western Conference All-Star team as starters. It's
the first time in their eight seasons together that both were
selected as starters. ... Oklahoma City started a four-game road
trip on Friday at Dallas, the lone team of the four with a winning
record.
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