OKLAHOMA CITY – With qualifying for the playoffs out of the picture and point guard Luka Doncic back in North Texas nursing a right thigh contusion, the Dallas Mavericks went out and simply swung for the fences Sunday afternoon against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The results were absolutely stunning as the Mavs overcame a triple-double by Russell Westbrook and shocked the Oklahoma City Thunder, winning 106-103 before a Chesapeake Energy Arena sellout crowd of 18,203. The Mavs (30-46) have now won two of their last four games – both wins were on the road – and are now 8-31 overall on the road.
It was an extremely scrappy performance by the Mavs, who kept dodging one haymaker after another thrown at them by the Thunder and wound up winning the season series against OKC, 3-1.
Trey Burke came off the bench for the Mavs and poured in 25 points on 10-of-18 shots and also distributed eight assists in 31 minutes. Jalen Brunson (18 points), Devin Harris (15 points) and Dwight Powell (11 points, nine rebounds) also provided an offensive punch, while Dirk Nowitzki tallied seven points and dragged down a season-high 13 rebounds.
It was the most rebounds Nowitzki has collected since he also grabbed 13 rebounds – also against OKC – on Mar. 5, 2017. The unexpected board work by Nowitzki helped the Mavs win the rebound battle against the rugged Thunder, 52-49.
“Look, our guys were fired up to play,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Everybody played great. We ended up outrebounding them — which is really, really difficult.
“Our (13) turnovers were manageable and we had some guys step up and have some big offensive nights.”
One of those guys who stepped up with a big offensive night was Burke. In his finest hour since joining the Mavs following that Jan. 31 trade with the New York Knicks, Burke repeatedly made crucial plays when the Thunder were climbing back from a 14-pint deficit.
Burke scored 12 points in the first half, which ended with the Mavs clinging to a 58-56 lead. And he added 10 more points in the third quarter in an overall gutsy performance.
“The opportunity presented itself for me to be myself when I go out there and be aggressive,” said Burke, who was 4-of-8 from 3-point range. “My teammates did a good job of finding me once I did get hot.
“I think OKC, once they started making adjustments on how I was playing the pick-and-roll, my job then was to get others involved, stay in the paint. I think that was the number one emphasis for tonight was be in the paint, make the defense collapse so we can have open shots, and I think that’s what we did.”
The game got so sticky that there were six lead changes in the final two minutes alone. After Jerami Grant scored inside to put OKC ahead, 103-102, with only 32.8 seconds left, Brunson made a hard drive to the left of the basket, then passed it to Powell for a dunk and a slim 104-103 Mavs’ lead with 21 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing trip up the court, Dennis Schroder and Paul George each missed a 3-point shot for the Thunder, and Ryan Broekhoff skied to snatch the rebound, was immediately fouled and promptly buried a pair of free throw to pad Dallas’ lead to 106-103 with just 4.2 seconds to go.
With OKC fresh out of timeouts, Westbrook’s desperation 37-footer never had a chance of reaching its intended destination. Meanwhile, Nowitzki said the fact that he didn’t have to guard Steven Adams played a major role in his ability to attack the basket and grab more than his fair share of rebounds.
“I was able to roam a little bit and get some of those balls,” Nowitzki said. “They’re number one in offensive rebounds in the league and you have to be able to hold your own on the rebounds – we talked about that before the game.
“We did a decent enough job, even though they got plenty of them. But (the Mavs got) enough to pull out the win.”
OKC missed its first seven shots of the game – most of them from point-blank range – and the Mavs seized the moment. A pair of 3-pointers by Harris, a drive by Burke and a 3-pointer from Powell catapulted the Mavs into a 51-37 lead with 5:05 left in the first half.
“In the first half (Harris) was great,” Carlisle said. “He got it going. When he gets on shot-making binges like that he can make six of eight threes in a row.
“In the second half there was a couple of plays he had some bad luck with the referees (including a technical foul). But I thought he gave us a lot of juice when he was in there.”
However, the Thunder came storming back following that scoring binge by Harris, and no team led by more than five points in the game’s final 6:17.
“We were able to make some plays and we play sound defense,” Brunson said. “They made a couple of runs here and there and they were fighting back.
“We just made a couple of more plays down the stretch to get the win.”
Burke admitted that he didn’t think many people who attended Sunday’s game thought the Mavs could defeat the Thunder without Doncic.
“Obviously with Luka and the phenomenal season he’s having and him not playing tonight and them having their full team, we definitely were counted out,” Burke said. “But we didn’t let that get between our ears.
“We came out with a chip on our shoulders and got the win.”
NOTES: Coach Rick Carlisle started his pre-game press conference – without being asked – by making a comment about Virginia advancing to the Final Four with Saturday’s wild 80-75 overtime victory against Purdue. “Final Four, baby,” Carlisle said. “Two more.” Carlisle played for Virginia from 1982-’84 and was a member of the last Virginia squad that advanced to the Final Four in 1984. “The replays on some of that stuff is very grainy, as you notice, but exciting stuff,” Carlisle said. Someone had the gall to ask Carlisle if he watched Saturday’s game. “Of course I watched it,” he said. “What you think I was going to do? There’s a lot of things to do in Oklahoma City, don’t get me wrong.” Carlisle also paid homage to Virginia coach Tony Bennett. “Tony’s a good friend, one of the most respected coaches in the profession,” Carlisle said. “The way they’ve been able to win at a high level consistently with the kind of athletes that they have, that has been a great credit to his resume.”. . .Paul George contributed 27 points and 11 rebounds against the Mavs on Sunday, Russell Westbrook had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, Steven Adams had 20 points and 15 boards, and Jerami Grant added 14 points. . .The Thunder have clinched a playoff berth and are currently seeded eighth in the Western Conference. Carlisle has pity on the team who has to play Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs. “It’s a matter of staying the course, understanding that everything is so close in the Western Conference that these (playoff) series, however they shake out, they’re going to come down to a bounce here or three,” Carlisle said. “You just got to stick with what you’re doing, with what you believe in, work to keep guys as healthy as possible, and if Oklahoma City is the eighth seed and you’re number one, I tell you what, that’s a beast of a first-round series. A beast, because of how good these guys are, how well-coached they are. They rebound the ball in a playoff series, seven games, they’re going to be extremely difficult to play. But I haven’t looked at the standing today. I know there’s still room for them to move up, there’s still quite a few games left. But I’ve watched their team in a lot of games this year. I don’t usually watch a lot of games at night, but I’ve watched them some when they’ve been on national TV. I just love the way they play. I love their speed, the athleticism, the way they defend.”
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