Kevin Durant hits a clutch winner from the free throw line to help Oklahoma City Thunder beat Dallas Mavericks in the game-1 of the Western Conference first round series....
Kevin Durant hit a jumper with 1.5 seconds left in the game to carve out a 99-98 win for the Oklahoma City Thunder over the reigning NBA Champions, Dallas Mavericks in the game 1 of the series on Saturday night at the Chesapeake
Energy Arena.
This was the second time this season that the three time scoring champion has had the final say in a matchup between these two teams, the first one being the first regular season meeting between the two sides. Durant, despite struggling
from the field on the night, finished the game with 25 points along with four blocks, six rebounds and four assists.
Russell Westbrook carried the weight of the Thunder scoring throughout the night and finished the game with 28 points. Serge Ibaka signed off with a career best of 22 points which included some key points in the closing stages
of the game. Ibaka also had 5 blocks, making his contribution even more major in the contest.
James Harden who was returning back from injury, a concussion suffered against the Los Angeles Lakers, struggled with 5 turnovers on the night but made up for it by recording 19 points. He also came up big with his defense in the
closing stages as he forced Dirk Nowitzki into turning the ball over which came at a very important point as the Thunder rallied.
Dirk Nowitzki led the way by shooting 8-of-18 from the field and being his usual self from the free throw line, 9-of-10 to rack up 25 points in the game. Only other starter scoring in double figures for the Mavs was Shawn Marion,
who finished the game with 17 points.
Jason Terry was the second top scorer for the Mavericks with 20 points but the veteran`s major contribution was coming up big at the crucial stages from the long range. Terry ended the game by shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
OKC led 13-12 at the 6:56 mark of the first quarter, but Mavericks responded with 6 quick points and by the end of the quarter were leading by 26-22.
In the second quarter, courtesy of Harden`s 5 quick points, OKC found themselves back ahead by 1. From then on, Mavericks again went on a run, this time bettering themselves by scoring 9 unanswered points to snatch back the lead;
however the home side responded back with a 10-1 spurt to get back ahead by 1.
Dallas responded back with a 6-0 run minutes later and were able to maintain a marginal lead till the half way stage with the score being 51-48.
In the third quarter, the action remained end to end with both sides converting possessions into score. The scores were all square on two occasions with the second one being at the 2:56 mark. At that point, nothing could have been
said about which way the matchup would go. However, Dallas being the more experienced team maintained their cool and scored 7 quick points. By the end of three quarters, Mavericks led by 73-69.
The fourth quarter remained tough, the scores remained close and the crowd was being treated to some spectacular clutch time basketball. At the 4:05 mark, the Mavs were leading by 87-85 and inside the next minute, they added 5
points to their tally which prolonged into a 7-2 run and it looked like the defending champions had finally broken the Thunder strip with the score being 94-87.
Thunder were however not willing to go down. Inside the next minute of the game, OKC put together a 7-0 run, courtesy of 4 points from Durant and 3 from Ibaka to make the scores equal at 94.
For the Mavericks, Ian Mahinmi responded by hitting two free throws to regain the lead. On the other end, Ibaka responded with a spectacular three point play with an assist from Durant to turn the tie in OKC`s favour.
With 9 seconds remaining in the game, Nowitzki answered the Mavericks call by hitting two slick free throws to make the score 98-97. Thunder had to take a time out to set up something for the final seconds of the game.
Westbrook inbounded the ball to Durant, who first drove right with Marion not going away and then he tried a crossover helping him get to close to his spot near the top of the key and then got up to hit a jumper at the 1.5 seconds
mark, which after rattling on the rim, went in and turned out to be the game winner.
Tags: