Dirk Nowitzki stands tall as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-112 (Part 1)
The Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder in game-1 of their Western Conference Finals at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. In a fluid game, both teams thrived on offence with Dallas leading the way most of
the time. The Mavericks took the game 121 – 112 in the end, thanks to a stupendous effort by their German giant, Dirk Nowitzki.
Dirk Nowitzki was a man among boys on the night, as he led Dallas to victory in stunning fashion. The 7 foot forward was simply unstoppable, canning 48 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. He even had 4 blocks.
Dirk’s display was highlighted by his exquisite shooting, both from the field and from the charity stripe. Nowitzki made 12-of-15 from the field and a perfect 24-of-24 from the line, eclipsing the NBA playoff record on the way.
He gave an account of the performance afterwards, "I was really looking to shoot early and was able to get my rhythm after the first couple of shots," Nowitzki said. "I kept attacking and my teammates kept feeding me and feeding
me and I was able to take advantage over some smaller players."
Dirk was ably supported by his teammates. Jason Terry and Jose Barea came off the bench to provide 24 and 21 points respectively. Shawn Marion had 11 points and Jason Kidd provided the same number in assists as the veteran Mavs
knocked down the young Thunder.
Oklahoma were carried throughout the game by superstar Kevin Durant. Durant followed his 39 points in game-7 against the Memphis Grizzlies with 40 tonight, but it was not enough as players around him were not up to the mark. Russell
Westbrook, coming off a triple double, had 20 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Serge Ibaka also scored 17, but no other player made a sizeable contribution.
Dallas started the game with an 8 – 2 run, however it was the Thunder who had the better first quarter. Kevin Durant was impressive early on, scoring 13 in the first period as OKC took control. The Thunder made an 18 – 6 charge
in the middle of the first, establishing a 5 point lead with 2:51 left on the clock. A flurry at the end stretched the gap to seven in OKC’s favour, 27 – 20.
A thrilling second quarter saw the Mavericks respond with 35 points in answer to Oklahoma City’s 21. Dallas made a 10 – 3 push early to level the score. However, they couldn’t capitalize the momentum and OKC kept their lead for
a while. Then, with less than 5 minutes left in the half, Kendrick Perkin’s elbow caught Marion in the face. The officials missed it and Rick Carlisle charged the court in disgust, earning a technical for his troubles.
The incident seemed to charge up the Mavs and they came back by scoring 13 without reply, including a big three from Jason Terry on a set up from Jason Kidd. The Mavs fittingly took the lead on the next possession with a Shawn
Marion dunk. The half ended with Dallas leading by seven points at 48 – 55.
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