The Oklahoma Thunder stars were both fined by the National Basketball Association on Sunday.
Advertisement
Dallas has tried to slow the tempo with little success except for its 85-84 victory in Game 2, and the hard-nosed nature of the series culminated in some shoving, jawing, a few technical fouls and finally Durant being tossed for committing a flagrant in the final minute of Saturday’s 119-108 win in Game 4.
Note: The sixth-seeded Mavericks will now travel to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Monday night, taking on the No. 3-seeded Thunder. Kevin Durant shot 7-20 from the field and ended his night by getting ejected for slapping Mavs SF Justin Anderson across the head with less than a minute to go in the game. He attempted to contest Anderson’s shot and smacked the rookie across the face with his forearm.
Saturday’s clean performance turned out to be much-needed dose of help, as teammate Kevin Durant finished with just 19 points, marking the first time since November 10 he’s fallen shy of 20. “I think his intention was to make a play on the ball”.
On a meaningless drive late in the game, Durant slugged Anderson with a forearm across the forehead. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him”.
Meanwhile, the Thunder will be satisfied with their win on Saturday because it means that they are now just one win away from advancing to the second round. It was just bad timing.
That close loss in Oklahoma City raised questions about the Thunder’s ability to rise to the occasion in the final seconds of tight games.
Still, that doesn’t remove the fact that tempers are still flaring high, and the Mavs still want to win.
The Thunder has a chance to end the series and move on to the Western Conference Semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs.
“If one guy goes down we have to have the rest of the guys fill in collectively”. “Cleveland makes a run, are you really going to stay the course and everything else?” Playing in what could turn out to be his final home playoff game (depending on what happens Monday and next year, of course), Nowitzki poured in 27 points (12-of-21 FG) in 40 minutes and did everything he possibly could to keep the Mavericks within striking distance.
The Mavericks lost Deron Williams just 89 seconds into the game.
Enes Kanter had his second straight playoff career high with 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting for the Thunder, who never trailed in two games in Dallas. Barea will have to play cheat code basketball to lift the Mavericks to a road win. That did not sit well with Mejri or guard J.J. Barea, and a light scuffle and words were exchanged between the two teams. Said Durant on Saturday: “I’m not trying to hurt nobody”. In between those two plays, Durant hit a three-pointer that brought the Thunder within one point and put them in a position where they could have won the game.
Advertisement
Celtics’ Smart fined for flop • The NBA has fined Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart $5,000 for violating its anti-flopping rules during Game 3 of the Celtics’ first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.
