DALLAS – Kevin Durant snagged the ball of the rim with 4.9 seconds remaining in the first half, spun up the floor and timed out his steps. From 35 feet away, the Thunder’s number 35 raised up and fired, draining a huge three-pointer heading into the locker room.
It was that kind of night for the Thunder in a 116-103 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks- a mixture of basketball IQ, hustle, and hot shooting. Head Coach Billy Donovan’s team battled through rough stretches and Mavericks runs in an entertaining game that featured high quality basketball all over the court. Through execution on both ends of the floor, focus and sheer will, eventually the Thunder pulled away for a decisive win.
“We had some lineups out there that were good defensively and that helped us,” Donovan said. “Offensively we moved the ball really well tonight and it’s something we have to keep on doing because when we do that it really lifts us up defensively as well.”
With a steely resolve after dropping two games at home coming out of the All-Star Break, the Thunder responded with vigor over the opening few minutes of play, outscoring the Mavericks 15-3 to start the game. Part of the reason the Thunder got off to a hot start on both sides of the ball was the return of Andre Roberson to the starting lineup. The long, limber guard provides defensive flexibility and athleticism to the starting group, and his return from injury allowed the Thunder’s reserves to go back to their normal roles.
“It felt great going out there and competing with my teammates, and we got the win,” Roberson said. “Chemistry, rotation-wise, minutes – that all plays a factor into a team… We rely on each other heavily.”
There was a slight alteration to Donovan’s rotations tonight, and while it may have been dictated by matchups or just a one-time occurrence, it did seem to impact the game. Kevin Durant was substituted out two different times, for shorter stints, in each of the halves. Typically Durant comes out just once in each half, for a longer stretch, but tonight Donovan staggered the rotation to keep at least one of either Durant or Westbrook on the floor at all times.
“With him being so great offensively, you don’t want to break rhythm,” Donovan explained when asked about his decision. “He’s been great in terms of always wanting to do what is best for the team,” Donovan explained. “We talked about it the last couple of days and he wanted to try it. He was all for it. I give him a lot of credit.”
Despite the rotation change, the Mavericks eventually managed to get back into the game in the second quarter before Durant’s runner just before the halftime buzzer pushed the lead back out to seven. Coming out of the locker room, Dallas got hot from behind the line, where it previously had shot just 3-for-11. By knocking down 5-of-6 three-pointers to start the second half, Dallas managed to take a three point lead.
The combination of Steven Adams and Enes Kanter provided a response for the Thunder, however, as Adams scored 11 of his 15 points in the third quarter and Kanter added eight points and five rebounds in seven fourth quarter minutes. Thanks to their efforts, and some stifling defense and rim protection, the Thunder went up by 22 after a 15-0 run over the first five minutes of the third quarter.
“We were just driving and kicking, and whoever was open we would pass the ball to,” Durant explained. “We were getting stops, pushing the ball and moving the ball. When we do that, everybody gets touches and anybody can have a big game.”
The Mavericks, weren’t done, however, and pulled to back within 105-97 with 4:00 to go with a 14-0 run of its own. Durant got a crack at a three-pointer against Dallas’ zone defense and drained it, then after a Dallas free throw, the Thunder tracked down an offensive rebound and Dion Waiters hit a monster three-pointer from the corner, capping a 14-point, two-rebound, three-assist performance on an efficient 5-for-8 shooting in his return to the Thunder second unit.
Regardless of some tough shooting nights lately, Waiters has focused on doing the little things to help his team, and was rewarded by scoring 11 points on 3-for-3 three-point shooting in the fourth quarter to help the Thunder seal the win.
“He handled himself well in terms of trying to go out there and do his job and do things he can control,” Donovan said of Waiters. “Part of the reason he had a good night tonight was because he didn’t worry about his shooting but worried about playing the right way and playing well and he did a good job tonight.”
Despite being tested with adversity during stretches of the game, the Thunder put together a solid defensive performance throughout the night by holding Dallas to 40.7 percent shooting, just 32 points in the paint and a minus-10 rebounding differential. The rotations were sharp, there were second and third efforts to get out to shooters on the perimeter and the communication seemed deliberate.
“We played good defense all night long,” Durant said. “They have a good team so they’re going to make runs, especially at home. We did a great job of limiting them in the paint and making them shoot a lot of jump shots. They got to the free throw line a bit in the second and third quarters, but outside of that our defense did great.”
“It started from jump street,” Roberson added. “We got out to a great lead and got a lot of stops and it fueled everybody else. It felt great with everybody putting the extra effort in, scrambling and rotating.”- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
By the Numbers
6 – Number of Thunder players in double figures, including Kevin Durant’s 24 points on 8-for-17 shooting in addition to eight rebounds and six assists
13 – Assists for Russell Westbrook on the night, in addition to 8-for-17 shooting for 24 points and seven rebounds
40.7 – Shooting percentage allowed by the Thunder on the night, including a 16-for-40 mark inside the paint- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The Last Word
“We were playing like we know how to play. We were getting stops and relying on our defense to create offense. Everybody put a great effort forth and it was a great win.” – guard Andre Roberson
