The Dallas Mavericks escaped with a dramatic 85-84 win over Oklahoma City to level their Western Conference playoff series at 1-1 after Steven Adam’s apparent buzzer-beater for the Thunder was disallowed after review.
Advertisement
In the end, Dallas escaped. Kevin Durant won’t go 7-of-33 again, and even if he does, Russell Westbrook will likely have a better night on both ends than the one he had on Monday.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t going to sugarcoat it. The Oklahoma City Thunder is more talented and athletically gifted than his Dallas team.
“They’ve obviously got a lot of options there”, Nowitzki said.
It was a bounced back game for the Mavericks after their loss against the Thunder on Saturday, 108-70.
Dirk Nowitzki played despite a right knee bruise and scored 16 points for the Mavericks, who missed 10 of their first 12 shots from 3-point range.
“This wouldn’t be possible if Deron Williams hadn’t given it a shot”, Carlisle said.
Durant, who scored 21 points, had never previously missed 26 shots before in a game, and he didn’t have any answers for why he shot so poorly.
The Mavs really put together a great defensive performance to limit Durant and the Thunder in Game 2, but I would be surprised if they could repeat that tonight as I can’t see Durant struggling like that two games in a row. “I didn’t make them, so that is a part of it. Get ready for Game 3”.
As horrific as the shooting night was for Durant, his efficiency should return closer to the mean with his reputation as one of the best shooters in the league.
Mavericks center Salah Mejri and owner Mark Cuban celebrate the win.
Oklahoma City still has far more talent than Dallas, and I would be surprised if the series lasted 6 total games (although, it is far more likely than it was only 24 hours ago).
Durant had 20 points in the first half, and Westbrook scored 20 in the second.
DALLAS (AP) – Kevin Durant rattled the rim early with a reverse dunk and pulled up from well behind the 3-point line for another of his first-half baskets. After Durant missed a short jumper and a 3-pointer, Wesley Matthews made a transition layup to push the lead to four with 14.4 seconds remaining. We can battle. But not on the basketball game. “Our disposition was stronger, our posture was great and we were very together”.
The matchup is on April 21, 2016 at 7:00 PM ET. Totals 31-92 15-18 84. Even up until halfway through the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City was still a heavy favorite. Dallas shot 55.6 percent in the first quarter…. That marked a 17.67% swing in favor of Dallas, putting their win probability at 76.36%.
Put yourself in a coach’s shoes for a second.
Warriors at Rockets, Golden State leads 2-0. Totals 35-80 23-25 98.
Don’t ask me how a guard averaging a little over three rebounds a game turns around and leads his team in rebounds in a playoff game on the road.
Advertisement
The Pacers not getting Jonas Valanciunas into foul trouble was the difference.
