Oklahoma City Thunder strike back; Beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-100 to level the series
The Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder responded to the brilliant performance from Dirk Nowitzki in game-1, and upped their ante a notch to take game-2. The Thunder played with a belief that they could win the game and went for the kill right from the start. A closely fought contest finally went OKC’s way late in the fourth as they secured a 106-100 win.
Nowitzki was again the top scorer for Dallas as he had game high 29 points. Tyson Chandler added 15 while also hauling down 13 rebounds for the Mavs. OKC were led by Kevin Durant with 24 points. The difference maker however was James Harden who came off the bench to score 23 and had 7 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 18.
The teams went toe-to-toe in the early exchanges until the 4th minute. With 7:27 remaining Nowitzki converted two from the line and dunked the ball home on the next possession as Dallas made a 10 – 0 run that seemingly put them in the clear. However, before the quarter was over OKC fought back to reduce the deficit to 5, ending at 26 – 31.
The second quarter was on the same lines, this time however it was OKC in the ascendency. With 10:31 remaining, they made a 10-0 charge that saw Dallas fall behind by 5 points. Jason Terry and Stojakovic hit consecutive shots to close down the lead to 1, and a Barea 3-pointer gave the Mavs the lead once more. The quarter saw more back and forth action and OKC ended out on top with a 2-point lead at 59 – 57.
After a high scoring first half, the third quarter was surprisingly slow. OKC threatened to pull away at the start with a 6-0 sprint, but a three from Jason Kidd ignited an 8-0 Dallas burst that brought the scores level again. The quarter ended with the gap cut down to one point.
Oklahoma City sealed the win with a strong showing in the final quarter. The first six minutes saw an intense battle as Dallas threatened time and again to take the lead, only to be thwarted by the Thunder. An 11-2 run by OKC left Dallas staring at a 10 point deficit with just 3:15 on the clock. The Mavs tried but failed to mount a come-back and the game closed at 106 – 100.
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