Western Conference Finals Game 2: Oklahoma City at Dallas (May 19) The game stayed close early on and was tied at 11-11 with 8 minutes left. After Dirk Nowitzki hit 2 free throws, on Dallas' next possession Nowitzki had a power drive for a slam and those 4 Dirk points kicked off 10 straight points by Dallas, capped by consecutive alley-oop dunks by Tyson Chandler, to give the Mavs a 21-11 lead with 5:15 remaining - and Oklahoma City called their 2nd timeout of the game. A 3-pointer by Peja Stojakovic followed by a layup by Jason Terry gave Dallas their largest lead at 28-17 with 2 minutes to go. But Oklahoma City was able to cut into Dallas' lead over the rest of the quarter as they used a 7-1 mini-run, including an awesome dunk by Kevin Durant (he elevated so that his elbow was at rim level), to pull within 24-29 with 50 seconds to go. Dallas led 31-26 after 1. Dallas shot 11-21 FG including 3-8 3-pointers and Oklahoma City shot 10-21 FG and missed all 4 3-pointers they attempted. Both team shot 6-7 FT. It was one-half of the Nowitzki-Durant show from Game 1 as Durant had 14 points (over half of Oklahoma City's points) and Nowitzki had 7 points (and only shot the ball 4 times). Brendan Haywood had a slam dunk after a loose ball found its way to him to give Dallas at 35-30 lead with 10:45 remaining. A 3-point play by Eric Maynor kicked off 10 straight Thunder points to give Oklahoma City a 40-35 lead with 9:05 to go as Oklahoma City scored on 5 consecutive possessions. But then it was Dallas' turn to rally as Dallas went on a 13-3 run to give the Mavs a 48-43 lead with 5:45 left. Dallas pulled out the zone on Oklahoma City's next 2 possessions - the defense worked with the Thunder missing a shot, but the rebounding failed as both possessions resulted in a putback bucket and Oklahoma City pulled within 47-48 with 4 minutes to go. The game stayed close the rest of the quarter with neither team holding more than a 3 point lead. A jumper by Durant (his only points of the quarter, in shooting just 1-2 FG) and 3-pointer by Russell Westbrook closed the quarter scoring and gave Oklahoma City a 59-57 lead at the half. Oklahoma City out-scored Dallas 33-26 in the quarter as the Thunder were a white hot 10-15 FG including 3-6 3-pointers while Dallas shot 9-19 FG and 1-5 3-pointers. The whistles were blowing strong in the 2nd quarter (including some touch-calls on Dallas while letting the offensive OKC players be more physical - that did change though in the 3rd quarter where a couple of offensive fouls were called on Oklahoma City). Oklahoma City shot 10-11 FT and Dallas shot 7-8 FT. It was an ugly start to the 3rd with just 4 points (both buckets by Westbrook) scored over the first 3 minutes of the quarter. A jumper by Durant gave Oklahoma City a 65-57 lead with 8:50 left and Dallas called timeout to try to find their offense. A 3-pointer by Jason Kidd late in the shot clock finally put Dallas on the board with 8:25 to go - that also kicked off 8 straight Dallas points to tie the game at 65-65 with 5:15 remaining. But Oklahoma City scored the next 6 points to go up 71-65 with 3:40 to go. And then it was Dallas' turn to rally as the Mavs went on an 11-2 run to take a 3 point lead with 28 seconds remaining. But James Harden nailed a 3-pointer and Terry clipped him on the elbow and Harden hit the free throw to give Oklahoma City a 77-76 lead after 3. It was a fairly low scoring affair (especially for this matchup) as Dallas out-scored Oklahoma City 19-18 in the 3rd quarter. Dallas shot just 6-18 FG, but half of their makes were 3s (3-6 3-pointers) and Oklahoma City shot 8-17 FG including 1-3 3-pointers. The whistles were down in the 3rd and Dallas shot 4-4 FT and Oklahoma City shot 1-1 FT. Both teams had 5 turnovers in the 3rd quarter (equaling their 1st half total). The stars were quiet in the 3rd as Durant scored 4 points on 2-5 FG and Nowitzki missed the only 2 shots he attempted. So it all came down to the 4th quarter. Slack defense by Dallas led to a 3-pointer by Harden 25 seconds into the 4th quarter and Oklahoma City continued to hold a small lead. Dallas managed to pull within 1 point 5 times, the last being at 90-91 with 7 minutes to go on a 3-pointer by J.J. Barea. But Oklahoma City then went on an 11-2 run, in scoring on 5 of their next 6 possessions, to take a 102-92 lead with 3:15 remaining. Nowitzki hit consecutive buckets to pull Dallas within 96-102 with 2:10 left. Kidd poked the ball away from Durant, but then Kidd threw the ball away on the other end in throwing to the corner that Terry had just vacated. Nick Collison was fouled with 1:20 left, but he missed both free throws. Kidd missed a corner 3, but DeShawn Stevenson was fouled. He hit both to pull Dallas within 98-102 with a minute remaining. Collison was fouled driving with 48 seconds to go and this time he hit both free throws to make it a 6 point game. The ball went to Nowitzki behind the arc and Collison left his feet and committed the foul (his 6th) and Nowitzki shot 2-3 FT with 37 seconds to go (ending his streak of consecutive free throws made at 39 straight). With a 4 point game, Dallas elected not to intentionally foul and Oklahoma City ran the clock down and then fumbled the ball near the end that resulted in a shot clock violation, leaving just 13 seconds to go. Stojakovic missed a 3-point attempt with 10 seconds left and 2 free throws by Thabo Sefolosha capped the scoring. Oklahoma City won 106-100. The series is tied 1-1. Well, Oklahoma City got what they want in getting a split on the road and now they have homecourt advantage - Dallas will have to will in OKC to win the series. And Dallas will have to put up a better defensive effort than they did in this game. Dallas' D was at times lax and at times sloppy, which led to some easy Thunder buckets - you're not going to win many games where the opponent shots over 55% FG. That's not to say that Oklahoma City played a perfect game - their defense had problems also (for instance, Tyson Chandler got behind their defense 3 times for quick alley-oops). It was Dallas' first home loss of the postseason and also ended Dallas' 7 game winning streak - with their last loss being the collapse in Portland in Game 4, so hopefully this loss will lead to better Dallas efforts and another winning streak. For the game, Oklahoma City shot 55.7% (39-70) FG including 7-18 3-pointers and Dallas shot 43.8% (35-80) FG including 9-27 3-pointers. Oklahoma City shot 21-26 FT and Dallas shot 21-24 FT. Oklahoma City had a slight rebounding edge at 38-37 but Dallas did have the offensive board edge at 14-9 (not surprising with the Thunder's hot shooting) - but despite having 5 more offensive rebounds, Dallas only had a 16-13 edge in 2nd chance points. Oklahoma City had 15 turnovers and Dallas had 12 turnovers and both teams scored 17 points on those turnovers. Neither team had a big edge in the game as the largest lead was just 11 points, but Oklahoma City did lead the entire 4th quarter (but down to 1 point 5 times). Unlike game 1, it was not a star-lead affair. Kevin Durant did have a team high 24 points, but 14 of those came in the 1st quarter. He also had 3 rebounds and 4 assists. The key to the game was James Harden's hot shooting. He played all 12 minutes of the 4th quarter and had 10 points on 4-5 FG and 2-3 3-pointers in the 4th. For the game, Harden had 23 points including 4-7 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in 32 minutes. Eric Maynor also played all 12 minutes in the 4th and had 13 points in the game in 20 minutes. Daequan Cook was a perfect 3-3 FG including 2 3-pointers for 8 points in 16 minutes, including all but 13 seconds of the 4th. And 4 of Nick Collison's 6 points came in the 4th as he played 11:23 of the 4th. And those 5 (with Durant playing all 12 minutes) were the 4th quarter players - 1 starter and 4 bench players. Unconventional, but it worked in this game with coach Scott Brooks sticking with the group that was clicking. That meant that starters Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins did not play in the 4th. Despite not playing in the 4th, Westbrook did have a good game (after a poor outing in Game 1) and had 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists - though he was still turnover prone and had 4 turnovers. Perkins hit his only 2 shots for 4 points and had 4 rebounds, 4 fouls, and 3 turnovers in 24 minutes. Starters Serge Ibaka had 6 points and 6 rebounds and Thabo Sefolosha had 4 points and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes. Nazr Mohammed got in for 1:30 and didn't have a stat. Until the 4th quarter, Dirk Nowitzki was fairly quiet. He had 13 points in the 1st half and missed the only 2 shots he attempted in the 3rd quarter. He tried to take over in the 4th where he scored 16 points including 7-10 FG in playing all 12 minutes. For the game, Nowitzki had 29 points on 10-17 FG and 9-10 FT, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. In Game 1, Jason Terry and J.J. Barea combined for 45 points. In Game 2, the two combined for just 19 points. The Mavs simply need a better performance out of Terry - he had 8 points including 3-9 FG in 29 minutes in this game. Barea had 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists in 16 minutes. Tyson Chandler hustled and benefited from 4 alley-oops as part of his 15 points. He had a double-double with 13 rebounds including 6 offensive. Jason Kidd played well with 13 points including 3-8 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals - and had just 1 turnover. Shawn Marion struggled with his shooting at 4-13 FG (including a couple misses inside) and had 9 points and 8 rebounds including 6 offensive. DeShawn Stevenson only shot 1-6 FG (all behind the arc) for 5 points, but was on the court for his defense (including playing 8 minutes in the 4th). Peja Stojakovic re-found some of his shooting touch (after a poor Game 1) and had 8 points on 3-6 FG and 2-5 3-pointers in 19 minutes. Brendan Haywood hit his only shot and had 1 rebound, 1 block, and 4 fouls in 8 minutes. Ian Mahinmi got in at the end of the 1st quarter and the beginning of the 2nd for a little over a minute of game time and had 2 fouls for his only stats. Quotes Scott Brooks: "I thought that was a heck of a win for us. This is not an easy place to play and get a road playoff win. I thought our guys in the 2nd half really locked in defensively and really did a great job of contesting shots and making them miss some shots. And we know that that's how we have to play. I mean, they missed some shots that they normally do make, but we made them miss a lot of the shots that they did miss. So I thought it was a great effort. Everybody chipped in. Our bench has been good all year, and I thought they really did a great job tonight." Brooks on Harden: "James has been improving ever since we drafted him. Coach Kalamian does a great job of really challenging him to get better every day, and we have a lot of confidence in James. I personally do, our team does, our staff does. He made plays. He made big basketball plays, and James is just not a spot-up shooter. He is a penetrator. He is a play-maker, and I thought he did it all tonight. He's a terrific player and he's improving. As the season went along, he has improved. Since we made the trade, he really stepped up to another level that allowed us to continue to get wins when we did have some guys new to our team." Brooks: "Well, our 2nd half defense was good. You know, we were playing against one of the premier teams, offensive teams in basketball. It was good. We just played hard. Like I told the guys before the game, playing perfect is impossible, but playing hard is possible. You can do that. You can do that every possession, and I thought we did that in the 2nd half. And that's what it's about. Sticking with Eric [Maynor] over Russell [in the 4th], I thought Eric did a good job. I've done it a few times during the year - it doesn't happen often. Russell is an incredible player. He's our starting point guard. But we weren't getting a lot of things done, and his time was to come out, and I stayed with Eric. I thought Eric was terrific handling the decisions on the court, and guys made big shots." Brooks on defending Nowitzki: "He's one of the best players offensively at that spot, we saw a couple of nights ago. I thought we did a good job of really getting into him and not allowing him to really like lace it up and just shoot over our head. We did a good job, but it's still not easy. The guy had still had nearly 30 points and I thought we played as well as we could possibly play. That just tells you how great he is." Brooks: "Our bench has played good all year for us. We've always felt confident in the bench. A lot of times they play deep minutes in the 4th quarter, but I thought the 50 points that they gave us was the game. It was the game. They really did a good job. But it's always a team effort when you win. We lose and win as a team. It's good that the guys came in and chipped in and played well for us." Brooks on keeping Dallas' bench under control: "Well, that's not easy to do. You know, Barea is a tremendous player. I thought he hit a couple of big 3s in that 2nd half. We did a good job on Jason Terry. He's a factor, and we knew that, and we just wanted to get a bit closer to him. We wanted to just keep it simple; get closer to him, make him feel our presence. And I thought the first game we gave him a lot of room, and when you do that with Jason, he burns you every time. He's a terrific player. He's like their 6th starter for their team, but I thought James [Harden] most of the time did a great job chasing him off the screens." Brooks on not subbing Westbrook back in during the 4th: "Well, that's always a decision. I had that decision for the last 6 or so minutes, but I thought the game was being played - we were increasing the lead, we were making shots. I didn't want to mess with the rhythm. I usually will sub him in. Very rarely have I ever done that since Russell has been here. But it was the decision really - Eric [Maynor] was playing well. It had nothing to do with Russell. Eric was playing good basketball, solid basketball for us, and we were increasing the lead. The temptation was there when they cut it to 6 and when they trapped and we had to call a timeout, but I believe in all of our guys. Some guys get more minutes than others, but the minutes that they do, they have to play hard and they do, and I believe in what they do out there." Kevin Durant on Westbrook not playing in the 4th: "We had a good start to the 4th quarter and we got a good lead. We were playing great defense. You can't mess that chemistry up. Coach made a good decision by doing that. And Eric Mayor and James Harden and Daequan Cook - they were unbelievable for us tonight, Nick Collison as well. Just keep battling. And I was just trying to playoff off those guys. So they really won the game for us." Durant on Harden: "He was a little upset about Game 1. He wanted to come out more aggressive, and that is what he did and led us in the 4th quarter." Durant on Westbrook not playing in the 4th: "I was surprised, but we had a row going and coach is that type of guy - if we have a row, you leave the guys in. And that's what - Eric was playing a great floor game and getting everybody involved and getting us that win." Durant on Nowitzki: "He still played well, but I think we made it a little tougher for him. He still made tough shots, but we made him work tonight." Russell Westbrook on not playing in the 4th: "Not when we're winning. I'm good. I'm just sitting there waiting to get my name called." Westbrook on the difference in the win: "I think it was defending. We did a good job of coming out and defending everybody that got in front of us. That helped us on the offensive end." Westbrook: "We're just trying to attack. It's going to be a tough series and we're just trying to attack and be aggressive." Westbrook on Harden: "He was aggressive. He really did his job and came in and played well." James Harden on the OKC bench: "It was tremendous. Eric [Maynor] made some great plays. Daequan [Cook] made some big shots. Kevin did what he did. Nick [Collison] played some great defense. I just tried to find my spots and make shots as well." Harden: "We wanted to have fun out there. We made big shots in the 4th quarter." Eric Maynor on Harden: "He's a great scorer - he showed that tonight. He's going to be big for us in this series." Nick Collison on defending Nowitzki: "I think we did a better job of making his catches a little tougher. We didn't use our hands as much. We wanted to challenge his shots and hope he missed them." Rick Carlisle on getting the ball to Nowitzki: "I thought he got enough touches. Look, the problem tonight - other than the beginning of the game where we got off to a really terrific start - after that period they got us, they attacked us, they got us back on our heels. And, I don't know, I don't remember a game in 3 years we've won when we give up 56% field goal shooting, you know. It just the defensive end is what we've got to solve and do better at. You know, scoring 100 points in a playoff game should be enough to win, but not if you're giving up 106 or 112 - it's just too much. You've got to give them credit. They played an attacking, desperate type game. They kept coming. They did not get discouraged. Their bench was dominant when they played. We have got to do a better job at the defensive end, and again, I don't know the loose ball count - you know, they got 13 out of 20 the last game and I'm sure they got us tonight for a lot more than we got. So those are areas where I know we can improve." Carlisle on playing Stevenson in the 4th: "Well, Stevenson is doing the best job on Durant of just staying in his stance and just making it tough on him, so that was the reason. I love the way he's battling. I love the way JKidd is battling out there in some situations. We're doing some switching and getting some tough match-ups, and that's the way you've got to play. We've got to all battle for the entire game." Carlisle: "Sometimes you get your butt kicked, you've got to take it like a man, and, hey, we've got to respond." Carlisle on Oklahoma City's run early in the 2nd changing the game: "I would agree with that, yes. I thought it turned the game around in a big way. And our substitution patterns, rotation, we're going to have to look at a little bit. You know, our zone was okay in the first game, and tonight it really struggled. Look, credit them for attacking it well. But, you know, my sense is that when we look at the film, what we're going to find is the reason that they hit some really difficult shots - I mean, Harden hit some great shots. Durant is going to make some of those shots. Westbrook got going. The reason those guys were able to get going was because early in the game we kind of allowed them to get going, and that's an area where we could improve. And again, I would give them credit for how they played. They played well." Carlisle on the 4th quarter: "They just played well, and we got in a situation where we got down 10, which was tough, and we really were at a point where with 3 minutes we had to kind of pitch a shut-out to give ourselves a chance. Then we went on a 4-0 run, then we had a tough turnover on a play, and then it was really tough after that. You know, a 7 game series is long. I mean, a lot of things go on, a lot of emotions going on. You know, when you win, you feel jubilant; and when you lose, I mean, it's really tough." Carlisle on the bench play: "They were just more aggressive. They were more aggressive defensively and they attacked harder offensively. They took it personally, and they responded well. And now we're going to have to respond." Carlisle on Oklahoma City: "Look, everybody on that team has gotten a lot of experience the last 2 years, and these guys have played in a lot of important games - regular season and playoff. And they're a competitive group of guys, you know. You've got to respect the way they came at us. I'm disappointed with how we played, but you know, they deserve credit." Carlisle on resting Nowitzki in the 3rd: "Well, Dirk played 40 minutes and 3 seconds, so we can't play him the whole game. We have a rotation that we've altered a little bit in the Playoffs, but he's not going to be effective unless he gets a couple, 2 or 3 minute blows per half. We have a lot of trust and belief in those other guys that fill in those situations. We've played a lot of good basketball with him sitting down. In fact, at times we've gotten leads or extended leads. You know, that's the reasoning, and going forward, we're a team. I mean, we're the kind of group that's really got to function together, regardless of who's in there, and you know, going forward we're just going to have to tighten things up." Dirk Nowitzki: "Our defense actually, besides the 3rd quarter, was bad again. We thought we had a bad defensive effort in the first game. And couldn't really get it done again today. I mean, we had a lead there still in the 1st and early in the 2nd. We got to give them credit. They came out to play and their bench I thought really changed the game today. They attacked us there in the 2nd quarter, and I thought Durant was even on the bench, and they made a run and took the lead in the 2nd quarter. We gave up 26 [points in the 1st], 33 [points in the 2nd], and 29 in the 4th. So, just too many points. Defensively just making errors, leaving shooters, didn't get to loose balls. So just was a tough outing. But you got to give them credit - they wanted it more and they came out swinging and they deserved to win." Nowitzki: "We just didn't have it, couldn't get the stops we needed. We're usually a great 4th quarter team. We get stops, we go out and run and execute on the offensive end. But those couple of minutes right there where they went up 8 or 10, that was the killer." Nowitzki: "Their reserves came out swinging and really took it to us. We were never really ready for their reserves." Nowitzki on OKC's defense on him: "They tried to keep the ball out of my hands a little more. Collison fronted a little bit. So I got a lot of catches in the high post in the 4th quarter. It's impossible to front there. I got my touches and tried to make some stuff happen." Nowitzki: "I didn't think Durant made the difference in the 2nd half. It was Maynor and Harden and their bench." Jason Terry: "It's obvious and evident that whichever bench makes an impact on the game is going to have a better chance at winning. And tonight, give their bench a lot of credit." Terry on Dallas' poor defense: "We know that. Let's try to not make it 3 games in a row with this kind of defensive effort." Terry on his game: "9 [shot] attempts. I don't call that a very aggressive game on my part." Tyson Chandler: "When you have a 7 game win streak, you kind of forget what got you there. We started feeling good about ourselves. We've got to get back to what got us there." Chandler: "Oklahoma City got hot and made shots. But you can't allow a team to shoot 54%. There were so many defensive errors out there. To me, it's just a lack of concentration - and we're playing for too much to have that right now." Shawn Marion: "It seemed like we had some good things happening in the 4th, but it seemed like we could never really get things going on both ends of the floor. Their bench really stepped up tonight and did a good job. Harden got really hot and we did a pretty good job of containing everyone else, but their bench stepped up real big tonight." Marion on Dallas' misses: "I know, yeah, I missed some easy ones tonight that I normally get and it was right there for me. But at the same time, we did some good things out there, but their bench hurt us." J.J. Barea: "They outplayed us in every part of the game. They had more energy, their bench played better, they made more shots, and they made some tough shots down the stretch. So give all the credit to them." Barea: "I can't remember the last time we lost the battle of the bench. It was going to happen at some point and it happened tonight and I give them a lot of credit. They were more aggressive and they made more big shots. Their bench just played better tonight." Barea: "We really never got into rhythm offensively tonight. We started strong but didn't keep it going. They did a good job defensively and we've got to come back tomorrow and work on some things." 2011 Playoffs - Western Conference Finals: Game 2 Oklahoma City Thunder 106, Dallas Mavericks 100 at Dallas (May 19) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Oklahoma City 26 33 18 29 - 106 .615 .389 .557 .808 Dallas 31 26 19 24 - 100 .491 .333 .438 .875 Halftime: Oklahoma City 59-57 3rd Q: Oklahoma City 77-76 Technicals: Kevin Durant 1:15 1st Refs: Bill Spooner, Tom Washington, Greg Willard Attendance: 21,051 (sellout) IL: Oklahoma City - Cole Aldrich, Byron Mullens, Robert Vaden Dallas - Caron Butler, Dominique Jones, Rodrigue Beaubois Oklahoma City Thunder REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Kevin Durant 44 11-23 0-5 2-3 24 0-3 4 3 4 1 1 Serge Ibaka 28 2-4 0-0 2-2 6 2-6 0 2 4 0 0 Kendrick Perkins 24 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-4 2 3 4 0 1 Thabo Sefolosha 19 1-3 0-1 2-2 4 1-5 0 0 1 1 1 Russell Westbrook 28 7-15 1-2 3-4 18 3-3 4 4 1 0 0 James Harden 32 6-9 4-7 7-8 23 0-7 4 0 2 2 0 Nick Collison 26 2-2 0-0 2-4 6 2-7 2 2 6 1 2 Eric Maynor 20 5-9 0-1 3-3 13 1-2 1 0 1 0 0 Daequan Cook 16 3-3 2-2 0-0 8 0-1 0 0 1 0 0 Nazr Mohammed 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 39-70 7-18 21-26 106 9-38 17 15 24 5 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shawn Marion 25 4-13 0-1 1-2 9 6-8 0 1 2 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 10-17 0-0 9-10 29 1-5 5 3 2 0 0 Tyson Chandler 39 5-10 0-0 5-6 15 6-13 1 1 2 0 0 DeShawn Stevenson 28 1-6 1-6 2-2 5 0-1 0 1 4 1 0 Jason Kidd 36 4-10 3-8 2-2 13 1-5 7 1 1 5 0 Jason Terry 29 3-9 0-2 2-2 8 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 Peja Stojakovic 19 3-6 2-5 0-0 8 0-1 0 2 0 1 1 J.J. Barea 16 4-8 3-5 0-0 11 0-3 4 0 1 0 0 Brendan Haywood 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 4 0 1 Ian Mahinmi 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 48 35-80 9-27 21-24 100 14-37 18 12 22 7 2 Go Mavs! patricia ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html