One can only imagine that Scott Brooks and his young Thunder squad didn’t sleep well last night. Outscored 11 – 4 in overtime after blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter Monday night, it couldn’t have been a peaceful rest.
Dallas, largely through the offensive efforts of Dirk Nowitski, took a commanding 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Dirk scored 40 points for the Mavericks, while Terry had 20 and Jason Kidd recorded 17 points with seven assists.
Oklahoma City, led by Kevin Durant with 29 points and 15 rebounds, blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. This young, talented team looked completely lost in the late-game, and for maybe the first time in these playoffs, much of the post-game reaction was directed at Scott Brooks for some questionable decisions late and his inability to draw-up a successful offensive possession.
In some ways the Thunder wore their inexperience on their sleeve more than ever last night. Oklahoma City led most of this game after getting off to an electric start hitting their first eight shots and jumping out to an early 16-8 lead. Even with their excessive turnovers in the second half and the resurgence of Dallas at many points, Oklahoma City still stayed on top — until there were about five minutes left in regulation.
And that is when the Thunder absolutely collapsed. Dirk Nowitski had his way with the Thunder defense from that point on, and Jason Kidd effectively baffled his young counterparts with impressive composure down the stretch.
Oklahoma City could do little more than stare with jaws dropped as they saw their double-digit lead disappear. And as we moved to overtime, nothing changed as the Mavericks dominated to take an enormous 3-1 lead in the series.
Russell Westbrook had 19 pts, eight rebounds and eight assists in this loss, and Serge Ibaka had 18 points. The Mavericks had a less balanced attack, but with Dirk playing the way he was, creating his own looks time and time again, they didn’t need a while lot more than Dirk’s 40.
The Mavericks will try to close out the series and earn themselves a trip to the NBA Finals on Wednesday night in Dallas.
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