Dallas used a 24-3 run in the fourth quarter to come back and shock the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Tyson Chandler (above) did the dirty work, securing a season-high 18 boards while scoring his most points in a game (17) since 4-11-2008. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)The Dallas Mavericks (10-4) used an explosive offense in the fourth quarter to hand the Oklahoma City Thunder (10-5) their fifth loss of the season. Coming off an 88-84 defensive struggle against the Detroit Pistons, an offensive outburst of this magnitude came as a bit of a surprise.
"It’s a work in progress," said Jason Terry of the Mavericks' offense after the team shoot a season-low 38.5 percent in the 88-84 win Tuesday night against the Detroit Pistons. "We just have to continue to grind it out until our offense gets more and more comfortable."
Dallas certainly looked comfortable in the fourth quarter just one night later against Oklahoma City.
The Mavericks' offense, ranked 28th of 30 teams in the NBA coming into the game scoring 95.5 points per contest, finally came together down 90-83 with 7:22 left in the final frame and finished with it's highest scoring outing of the season.
Dirk Nowitzki hit two straight three's after the Thunder took a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter - one of which led to a four-point play after Nowitzki hit the deck on the second attempt - tying the game and starting a crucial 24-3 run that ended with Dallas attaining 107-93 lead with 1:51 left in regulation.
"What always helps in this league is making big shots, and we got hot at the right time," said Nowitzki, who scored half of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter alone.
The Mavericks hit 4 of 6 three's during the run, after going 5 of 21 from behind the arc before that point.
"They got hot. Let's face it," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "This is a good team. They hit a lot of 3s, and they were missing a lot of 3s early in the game."
After falling behind by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, Dallas battled back to keep the lead in single digits for the rest of the quarter and into the fourth - paving the way for a fourth quarter comeback.
"It was a nip-and-tuck game. Though they got up nine to 10, it didn't feel like it," said Terry, who hit a three-pointer with 6:24 left in the fourth that put the Mavs ahead for good at 93-90. "It felt like it was a one-point ballgame the whole game, and defensively we just kept grinding it out and getting stops.
"And all of a sudden our offense came alive there in the fourth quarter."
What kept Dallas alive going into the fourth quarter was the excellent play of Mavs' center Tyson Chandler. Despite getting out-shot 48.2 percent to 44.4 percent for the game, Dallas outrebounded OKC 49-36 thanks in large part to Chandler's season-high 18 rebounds.
"He's been amazing, just his positive energy," Nowitzki said. "He's always the first one off the bench when he's not on the court, he's vocal in the locker room and he's been amazing to have around."
Dallas was able to hang tough through three quarters and managed to pull away in the fourth thanks to some hot shooting. The Mavericks have started off winning the first two games of a four-games in five-nights stretch; playing polar opposite styles in each contest.
The Mavericks have proved in the ability to win both defensive struggles and offensive shootouts, which should come in handy in facing two of the league's best teams on back-to-back nights. First things first: Dallas just hopes to keep it's three-game winning streak alive going into San Antonio on Friday night.
What's Next
The Mavericks get Thanksgiving off before concluding the brutal, four games in five night with a back-to-back in San Antonio and at home against the Miami Heat. The Spurs are an NBA-best 13-1 this season and 7-1 at home. The Spurs also crushed the Mavericks' playoff hopes last season, beating Dallas 4-2 in the first round as the seventh seed.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. central time.
News and Notes:
- Kevin Durant kept up his end of the bargain in the battle of two of the league's top scorers, scoring 32 points (on 12 of 20 shooting), grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out five assists in the loss. However, Durant scored only four points in the deciding fourth quarter.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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