Written by Marc Tracey at New York Times.com
Although a two-games-to-one deficit in a best-of-seven series is far from insurmountable, the Oklahoma City Thunder entered Thursday night’s game knowing that their huge advantage over their first-round opponent — they won 13 more games in the regular season than the Dallas Mavericks and were 4-0 against them — would mean nothing if it was not converted to wins.
The Thunder lost, 85-84, on Monday in Game 2, with the star forward Kevin Durant missing 26 of 33 shots from the field. Russell Westbrook, the Robin to Durant’s Batman, was barely better, finishing 8 of 22 for 19 points.
“It really doesn’t matter” if you start games well, Westbrook said earlier Thursday. “It depends how you finish.”
On Thursday, Durant was better — 11 of 25 for a game-high 34 points — and it was all the difference as the Thunder shattered the Mavericks, 131-102, to take a two-games-to-one series lead. Game 4 is scheduled for Saturday in Dallas.
The winner of the series will play the winner of the series between the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, longtime rivals of the Thunder, are up by two games to none and would surprise nobody by easily winning the next two.
“When Kevin got the ball, he made good decisions,” Thunder Coach Billy Donovan said after the game.
This time, Donovan added, the shots simply happened to go in at a rate closer to ordinary, as opposed to Monday’s dismal performance. “When guys are taking good shots,” Donovan said, “you’re going to live with them.”
After the game, Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle made essentially the same point about Durant, one of the most talented scorers in N.B.A. history.
“I don’t know if he’s ever missed 26 shots in a game in his life,” Carlisle said. “He’s going to make some more shots. The question is: Did we make it as hard on him as we could?”
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