Dallas Mavericks 52 – Oklahoma City Thunder 36: Game-3 Halftime Analysis
Forward Shawn Marion scored 12 points on a 6-for-8 shooting from the field as the Dallas Mavericks led the Oklahoma City Thunder 52-36 at halftime on Saturday night at the Oklahoma City Arena.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, who was not allowed to play the crucial fourth quarter of the game-2 of the series, made a strong comeback and headed Oklahoma City (OKC) with 12 points at halftime.
After being stunned by the OKC in the game-2, the Mavericks centre Tyson Chandler willed his team to put up a better defensive show before the game. "We won Game 1 here not playing great defence and we felt like we could just come
out and outscore them and beat them. Regardless of whether we can or not, that's not the kind of habits we need to create."
First Quarter
The Mavs entered the court with a firm determination to take a 2-1 lead in the series and snatch back their home court advantage. They were in the zone from the very start and went on a 13-4 run in the first quarter to take an
initial lead. Dallas continued their rhythm and stretched their advantage to 18-8, with 04:19 to go in the first. Marion scored eight of his 12 points in the opening quarter and the Mavericks went on an 8-4 run in the last three minutes of the quarter, taking
a 27-12 advantage into the second.
Second Quarter
The Mavs started the second quarter from where they left off in the first and sprinted to a eight points unanswered run within the first two minutes to widen their lead to 35-12. Thunder however finally showed some offense at that
points and slashed the deficit to 17 points, 23-40, with 05:49 remaining in the second. OKC continued to push hard but the Mavs always seemed to have an answer.
Jason Kidd hit a sizzling three-pointer to put the Mavs ahead by 51-29 at 02:07 mark. Oklahoma City made a marginal come back in the last two minutes of the quarter as they went on a 7-1 run, however, Dallas still managed to take
a 52-36 lead at halftime.
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