The Oklahoma City Thunder (8-6) defeated the Dallas Mavericks (9-5) 117-114 on Sunday.
In a nail-biter of a game, the Thunder were able to prevail thanks to some late heroics. The Thunder ended the game on a 13-4 run and that proved to be the difference. Both teams shot exceptionally well in the game, as Dallas shot 53 percent while the Thunder shot 52 percent. The major difference was the free-throw shooting though, as the Thunder hit 78 percent of their free-throws while Dallas shot just 57 percent from the charity stripe.
Dallas was one of the hottest teams in the league coming into this game and they nearly escaped with their seventh-straight win. They simply didn’t play enough defense throughout the game to hold off the Thunder though, as they allowed at least 27 points in every quarter. They were led by yet another double-double from Zaza Pachulia, who is proving to be one of the steals of the offseason. Deron Williams also had another nice game, as he tallied 20 points, six rebounds and six assists in the defeat. The Mavericks will try to start a new winning-streak on Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Thunder had lost three of their last four games coming into this matchup, so the win was much needed. They got some serious help from their bench in this game, as three different players scored in double-digits. Oklahoma City was led by Russell Westbrook once again, as he totaled 31 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and five steals in the win. The return of Kevin Durant seems to be right around the corner as well, so things appear to be turning around for the Western Conference hopefuls. They’ll hope Durant return’s for Monday’s game against the Utah Jazz in the second half of a back-to-back.
