Dirk Nowitzki stands tall as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-112 (Part 2)
In the third quarter, the Dallas Mavericks picked up from where they left off in the second. After launching a 35 points foray in the period before the break, they scored exactly the same number coming out of the interval. The
quarter started with a hint of what was to come, Dirk Nowitzki’s free throws. Nowitzki was on fire in the third period as he scored 17 points. Oklahoma City Thunder took turns fouling him but it backfired as Dirk drained all 13 from the line. The Thunder tried
hard but couldn’t get close to the Mavs, who led by 15 at one point and 11 at the end with the score at 79 – 90.
The fourth quarter saw a mini fight back from the Thunder but it was to no use as the Mavs never relinquished their lead. Jose Barea was hot early and scored 10 straight for the Mavericks. Barea penetrated the Thunder’s defence
at will and showed his range as well, drilling one from downtown. Kevin Durant, who had 13 points in the final quarter, willed his team back into contention and nailed a fade-away shot that cut the gap to 5 points, with 3:42 left to play.
However, this was Nowitzki’s night and he put OKC to bed almost on his own. Dirk scored 8 of Dallas’ last 13 points. He nailed clutch jumpers, continued to hit from the line and set up Jason Terry for a 3-pointer. Nowitzki’s end
of game flurry saw the Mavericks home, comfortably at 121 – 112.
Thunder head coach spoke of Dirk Nowitzki after the game, admitting that OKC need to make plans for the 7-foot forward in order to go past the Mavericks,
"He's been doing it for many years against a lot of great players. He had good rhythm. He got off to a good start. He was making shots and we were fouling his jump shots. That's too many fouls. We've got to do a better job of guarding
him. We have to make some adjustments, and we will."
Oklahoma City Thunder out-rebounded the Mavs 35-to-33. They also shot better from beyond the arc with 43.8 percent compared to 39.1 from Dallas, although they lost out on field shooting by 53.4-to-47.2 margin.
The main problem for OKC was Dirk Nowitzki. Thunder put their best defender, Serge Ibaka, on him early on but Nowitzki just breezed past him and also got him into foul trouble. After that, OKC tried half their roster in an attempt
to guard him, including Nick Collison, Thabo Sefolosha, Kendrick Perkins, James Harden and Durant, but no one had the desired effect.
Nowitzki was simply unplayable; he drained his shots over everyone. OKC tried to foul him and Nowitzki set the record for most consecutive free-throws made in post season history. Double teaming him meant that he always picked
out the open teammate. Dirk was just really, really good on the night.
The win has seen Dallas stretch their record post season winning run to 7-games and they will now be looking to extend it to 8 in game-2. OKC need to adjust their game to stop Nowitzki and it will be interesting to see what they
come up with in game-2.
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