Struggles at home continue as the Mavericks' late-game comeback attempt falls short, while Kevin Durant and the Thunder celebrate clinching a playoff spot for the first time in franchise history. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)The Dallas Mavericks (50-27) can't keep doing this to themselves. In the last three games, Memphis led by 12 in the fourth quarter, Orlando by 18, and Saturday night the Oklahoma City Thunder (47-28) led by as many as 19 points (108-89) with 6:18 to go in the final period. Playing catch-up down by double-digits every game in the fourth quarter is a recipe for disaster, evidenced by the Mavs' 1-2 record in those contests.
Dallas did battle back, using a hustling full-court defense, with a 17-2 run that cut the lead to 110-106 with 2:40 left. It wasn't enough, however, as the Mavericks' lack of defense for the majority of the game led to their demise. The game was sealed, fittingly, after Dallas cut the lead to 113-109 with :52 to go and a failure to get a hand into the face of Eric Maynord on a 3-pointer put the Mavs down 116-109 with only 24 seconds to play.
"I was open for a shot and the shot clock was going down and I was able to knock it down," said Maynord, who knocked down 2-3 from 3-point range for the night.
"We have to improve our defense," said Brendan Haywood, who had nine points and three rebounds.
That would be an understatement.
Dallas allowed the Thunder to score 67 points in the first half, get to 100 by the 9:00 mark of the fourt quarter and shoot nearly 52 percent for 121 points. Oklahoma City scored at least 27 points in every quarter and 35 in the first quarter and, in total, tied their second-highest scoring game this season.
The Mavericks did do some scoring themselves, making 15 of 20 shots (75 percent) in the first quarter for 37 points, a season-high in first quarter scoring. For the game they made 53 percent of their shots and Dallas had their highest scoring game since the 12th win of the 13-game winning streak.
"We had a great offensive quarter, 37 points is a huge number," said Coach Rick Carlisle. "But our defense was very disappointing."
Defense, or lack of it, seems to be an ongoing trend since Dallas won 13-straight games earlier this season. Six Thunder players scored in double-figures, led by Durant with 23 and Jeff Green's 22 points on 9-15 shooting.
"When we won 13 in a row, our defense was much better," said Haywood.
That 13-game spurt now seems like a distant memory as the Mavericks are having trouble getting over .500 since the streak. Dallas has won only five of 11 games since the streak and the Mavs have allowed an average of nearly 105 points per game. They've also struggled at home, going 3-4 at the AAC since the huge run.
Dallas is going to have to figure out something quick as they are in a four-way tie for second-place in the Western Conference with Denver, Utah, and Phoenix. There is only five games left before the playoffs, isn't a veteran team like the Mavericks supposed to "turn it on" when it matters? That definitely hasn't been the case thus far.
Nowitzki Dominates Thunder
On a lighter note, one of the lone bright spots of the game was the play of former NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki. With a game-highs in both points (30, on 10 of 19 shooting) and rebounds (13), Nowitzki continued his season-long dominance of Oklahoma City.
For the season he's averaged 30 points, 9.5 rebounds against the Thunder, while shooting over 50 percent in the four games. That's all I got for bright spots.
What's Next:
Dallas has three days off at home to contemplate just what went wrong in the past two games. The Memphis Grizzlies then come to Dallas on Wednesday for the fourth and final meeting between the two teams this season.
The Grizzlies have lost three of their last four games, including the 106-102 overtime loss to the Mavericks March 31, but won Friday night against the New Orleans Hornets 107-96. Memphis is 39-36 overall this season, ninth in the Western Conference. Their road-record is 16-20 this season.
Dallas leads the season-series 2-1.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on KXTA 21. I will be in attendance again, so expect some good inside-information on the game.
News and Notes:
- With the win, the Thunder ended a nine-game road losing streak, dating back to the Seattle Supersonics days, at the AAC.
- Mavericks forward Shawn Marion left the game at halftime and did not return due to a strained left oblique muscle. He's listed as day-to-day and the injury does not appear to be serious.
- After playing only 12 first half minutes after being saddled with three quick fouls, Jason Kidd came out hot in the second half. Kidd scored 22 of his 24 total points in the second half while making 10 of 15 shots for the game.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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