Dallas Mavericks rally late to knock out the Oklahoma City Thunder from the playoffs (Part-2)
Dallas Mavericks came out of the interval ready to take down the Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder and punch their ticket to the NBA Finals. Star forward Dirk Nowitzki got the Mavs going with a jumper to start off the second half that closed the gap down to one. After chasing down OKC for the following 5 minutes or so, the Mavs finally drew level thanks to a DeShawn Stevenson’s free throw around the halfway mark.
Dallas proceeded to take the lead when Peja Stojakovic hit one from downtown after the setup by Jason Kidd, with 4:46 left on the clock. However Kevin Durant soon came back with a 3-pointer of his own and Nick Collison made a slam dunk as OKC took back the advantage. They hung on to it until the end of the third quarter, which finished at 76 – 72.
With memories of the last game fresh in their minds, Oklahoma City started the fourth quarter with caution, determined not be upstaged down the stretch again by the dangerous Mavericks. They looked steady and increased their advantage to 8 points with 8:04 remaining. They were still ahead by 6 points with 4:47 left, but then it all went wrong again. The Mavs put together a 14 – 4 surge to steal the win once more and seal OKC’s fate.
It was, of course, Nowitzki who started that run with two free throws. He and Shawn Marion scored all 14 of the Mavs last points. It was Nowitzki who made the crunch shots, hitting the big 3-pointer that gave the Mavs the lead for the final time, with just 1:14 remaining. It knocked the wind out of the young Thunder squad who seemed in shock at what was transpiring. Dallas’ defence did the rest and they closed out the win, and the passage to the NBA Finals, at 100 – 96.
It was the second game in a row that Oklahoma City let slip in the final period. They were the better side according to the stats, shooting better from the field at 42.7 percent compared to 40 percent for the Mavs. They also won the battle of the boards 49-to-44.
At the end, it was a mixture of their inexperience and Dallas’ resilience that cost OKC the two games and a shot at the NBA Finals. They can however to confident that this experience will stand them in good stead for years to come. Their coach Scott Brooks though wasn’t making any excuses,
"Next year when they're 23, they're still going to be young. We're not going to use it as an excuse. We all signed up to play this game and you have to take pride in what you do because it's not a hobby. It's our life. This is what we do. This is what we believe in."
Dallas now look forward to facing whoever wins the Eastern Conference in the Finals. Their owner Mark Cuban put it best after the game, "All I can tell everybody is, we ain't done yet,"
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