Dallas Mavericks blow-away Oklahoma City Thunder, 93-87 – NBA Play-off Finals Recap
Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion each scored 18 points as the Dallas Mavericks took a 2-1 series lead with a 93-87 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their Western Conference finals on Saturday, May 21.
Jason Kidd finished with 13 points and eight assists, helping Dallas take back a home-court advantage.
The Mavericks got aggressive and limited the Northwest Division Champions Thunder to 29 percent shooting in the first two quarters. The Mavericks were up by 23 points in the first half and a 1-for-17, preserving their victory in the second half.
Nowitzki said after the game, "It was a great defensive effort early on. It set the tone for us. We just played off our defence and executed well. We had more aggression to our play."
Russell Westbrook chipped in 30 points for the Thunder while Kevin Durant ended with 24 points on 7-for-22 shooting.
Durant was not satisfied with his side’s performance. He said, "They doubled a lot more off pick-and-rolls and post-ups. They made it tough for us. We have to figure out ways to have a better start."
Game 4 is scheduled for Monday, also in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City's Head Coach, Scott Brooks, made a difficult decision to bench the All-Star point guard Westbrook in the final period of Game 2, and Oklahoma City reserves came through in a 106-100 win to even the series. Westbrook answered with
14 points in the fourth frame in Game 3.
Marion made a pair of buckets and threw an alley-oop pass to Tyson Chandler on the Mavericks' opening-period 9-2 burst.
The Mavericks then finished the first frame just as strong as they opened it when Peja Stojakovic and Kidd both made three-point plays to spark a 12-4 surge.
The flurry gave Dallas a 27-12 cushion, which extended to 23 points following eight straight Mavericks points to start the second quarter.
"[The Mavericks] came out and did a great job with their defensive pressure. They took us out of our sets and trapped the basketball, just got us playing on our heels. I give our guys a lot of credit, they made it a game in the fourth quarter," Brooks
said.
The Mavericks held a 52-36 lead at the half-time and the Thunder were again down by 22 points when they went scoreless for the first four minutes of the third period.
However, Westbrook went on his own 8-2 run in the second half to trim the Thunder’s deficit to single digits. James Harden then made a pair of free throws near the halfway point to pull the Oklahoma City within six, 80-74.
Nowitzki of Dallas suddenly hit two bucket moments later, but Oklahoma City still trailed by six points, 84-78, coming down the stretch.
Jason Terry drilled a short pull-up jumper to enhance the Mavericks’ advantage with less than two minutes showing. The Thunder could get only as close as four points from there and Dallas sealed the victory by hitting 5-of-6 from the free throw line
in the last minute of the final frame.
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