It was a tale of two halves as Kevin Durant (above) and the Thunder came out with a vengeance in the second half to prevent Dallas from sweeping the season series. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)Although the final outcome was to be expected, considering the Dallas Mavericks (26-9) were missing both Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler, the way this game played out was certainly a surprise. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who thought Dallas would score 30 points in the first quarter and shoot over 50 percent through three quarters without two of the top scorers on the team... and still lose.
That's how it unfolded -- The NBA: Where amazing happens -- as Dallas was quick out of the gate against the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-13), putting up 55 points in a first half that Mavs' coach Rick Carlisle termed "our undoing" due to a rash of Mavs' turnovers that allowed the Thunder to keep it close going into the second half.
"We had 10 turnovers for 12 points, and a lot of them were timely," Carlisle said.
The turnover story was a combination of poor ball handling by the Mavericks and quick hands by OKC as the Thunder accumulated nine steals in the first half. Let's delve into how things all got started, and how it subsequently fell apart for Dallas.
Hot shooting was the name of the game early-on, with the Mavericks shooting 72.7 percent midway through the first quarter, and Shawn Marion scored 10 of the first 12 points for Dallas on 5 of 6 shooting. Both trends would continue throughout the half, with Dallas taking a 10 point lead early in the second quarter (Marion had 21 points at halftime, while Dallas shot nearly 60 percent); but the Mavericks would hold just a four point lead going into halftime because of the aforementioned sloppy play.
"We had a 10 point lead and we should have pulled away and left them at the gate," Marion said. "They put together a little run and the next thing you know, we've got a battle on our hands."
The second half was a different story entirely as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and a rejuvenated Thunder team came out on fire. OKC went on a 16-6 run to start the third quarter, taking their first lead of the game at 60-59 near the beginning of the quarter. That marked the one and only lead change of the contest, with the Thunder taking a three point lead to end the third before piling it on in the fourth.
A swarming Thunder defense held Dallas to just 15 points in the third and only 40 total in the second half. The Mavericks, who were shooting over 59 percent from the field at halftime, saw their shooting percentage drop to just under 47 percent by the end of the contest.
"In the second half we were good defensively," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said, "but everybody knows that this [Mavericks] team is battling injuries and they're a different team than a few weeks ago. But we did play good defense in the second half."
The fourth quarter saw Oklahoma City's lead reach double digits by dominating the offensive boards. The Thunder accounted for seven of the teams 16 total offensive rebounds in the fourth alone, setting up second-chance opportunities that killed the Mavericks in the final frame. DeShawn Stevenson hit three straight 3-pointers late to make the game look closer than it was, but Carlisle waived the white flag with 1:18 left in regulation by pulling all of his starters except for Stevenson.
"We struggled on the boards, and the timely second-chance points were are undoing down the stretch," Carlisle said. "That is really one of the emphasis and, having said that, we outrebounded them by two total over the whole game, so that were really just timely plays."
Another disturbing item is how Marion faded from the offense in the second half, coinciding with the Mavs' struggles on that end of the floor. After scoring 21 points in the first half, Marion would score just four in the second due to what point guard Jason Kidd said was some aggressive switching on the pick and roll.
"They did a lot of switching one through four, and we kind of played into their hands a little bit," Kidd said. "With the pick and roll with Shawn, they just switched it."
Marion still finished with a team-high 25 points, but didn't seem overly thrilled with his second half offensive exodus in interviews after the game. When asked what the difference was from the first and second half, Marion responded:
"Well they got their momentum going and we went away from what was working in the first half second half that we didn't do in the second half."
The Mavs' forward also preached that the team flow finds the open man on a night-to-night basis, toting the company line and so on and so forth -- but you can read between the lines on that last statement. The testiness of Marion is actually a good thing here as it shows this team isn't grasping for excuses with Dirk out. Marion's led the team in scoring in two of the past three games and has proved that he needs the ball in his hands with Nowitzki out of the lineup.
Each and every game is going to be a struggle without Nowitzki in the lineup, and the margin for error is extremely thin for a team lacking it's NBA MVP candidate. Dallas just has to continue to play hard and avoid the costly mistakes that ended up costing them the game against OKC.
For the Thunder, Durant finished with a game-high 28 points and Westbrook finished with 15 points and nine assists as the Thunder snapped a two-game losing skid. Also, because it was the final meeting between the two teams this season, OKC avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of Dallas.
Box Score
What's Next:
The Orlando Magic come to town Saturday night for the last meeting between the two teams this season. Dallas won earlier this season, 105-99 in Orlando, behind six Mavs in double figures led by the injured Caron Butler. The Magic have won eight straight games since taking that loss against Dallas, beating some of the NBA's elite including the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. central time.
News and Notes:
- Even with only four points in the second half, Marion still finished with a season-high 25 points on 12 of 17 shooting.
- Jason Kidd's shooting woes continued, going 0 of 7 for the game and 0 of 4 from deep. Kidd did have 10 rebounds and seven assists for the night, but no Nowitzki on the wing prevents a lot of those open looks he would normally get.
- Dirk Nowitzki has now missed a career-long six straight games due to injury. The Mavericks are 2-4 in those games.
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