Thunder vs. Mavericks: Game 3 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

On Monday, Kevin Durant jacked up 33 shots in Game 2 in perhaps the worst volume-shooting night in NBA playoff history. Three nights later, Durant reminded the world why the league will be falling all over itself for him this summer.    

The impending free agent scored 34 points, and Russell Westbrook added a double-double as the Oklahoma City Thunder earned a 131-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday at American Airlines Center. The Thunder have a 2-1 series lead overall and regained home-field advantage after an ugly Game 2 loss.

Seth Partnow of the Nylon Calculus offered his take:

"

OKC's game 2 performance looking pretty aberrational right now.

— Seth Partnow (@SethPartnow) April 22, 2016"

Durant, who clanged 26 shots off the rim in said loss, was back in MVP-level form despite a raucous Dallas crowd. He started off red-hot to help the Thunder build a lead they would never relinquish.

Oklahoma City led for 47:03 of the 48-minute game and pulled away with a dominant offensive performance. Durant wound up shooting 11-of-25 from the field and attempted 11 free throws, six more than he did during the worst night of his pro career.

"You constantly keep feeding him," Westbrook said after Game 2, per Royce Young of ESPN.com. "He's the best player in the world. You have nights like that. My job is to find him and find a way to get him an easy basket. He missed easy ones tonight, but I know Kevin. I've been with him for too long, and that won't happen again."

The Thunder shot 57.7 percent from the floor, including a 55.6 percent rate from beyond the arc. That's up from their abysmal rates (33.7 percent overall, 21.9 percent from three) in Game 2. The open shots that were going in and out started falling, and the Mavs were unable to keep up despite a fine night of their own from the field.

Russell Westbrook, who avoided criticism for his 8-of-22 night Monday, was in full facilitator mode on the perimeter. His 15 assists were one short of his playoff career high, and most came during Durant's hot first half. Struggling from the floor early on, Westbrook dropped nine dimes to overcome his 2-of-7 rate at the break. He caught fire during a 12-point third quarter and finished with 26 overall.

Adam Mares of Denver Stiffs put it aptly:

Apropos of nothing, really, Westbrook also slapped this Dirk Nowitzki shot back to Wurzburg: 

Nowitzki recovered from that highlight enough to pour in 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Four of the Mavericks' five starters were in double figures overall, led by Wesley Matthews with 22 points. Raymond Felton also turned in his second straight solid outing with 18 points, four assists and four steals. J.J. Barea added 15 points and seven assists to round it out.

The beat-up Mavs unfortunately couldn't get much from their bench. David Lee was 3-of-3 from the field, but Dallas was outscored by 18 points in his 17 minutes. The box score is filled with ugly plus-minus numbers for the entire Dallas bench.

Bleacher Report's Michael Pina made a salient point:

The Thunder bench, meanwhile, did a complete 180 from their dreadful Game 2. Enes Kanter poured in 21 points and eight rebounds, while Dion Waiters found his stroke for a 19-point game on 7-of-11 shooting. Kanter and Waiters combined for 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting during the Game 2 debacle.

Overall, the game played as we expected the series to. The Thunder are the superior team in every facet. They have the two best players in the series, and we didn't even mention Serge Ibaka's brilliant all-around night (16 points, six rebounds, two blocks). Oklahoma City played its worst possible game Monday and lost by a single point—and nearly didn't even do that.

Most predicted a quick series here, and there's little reason to believe otherwise. The Thunder should win every game they play against Dallas—especially this broken-down version. Durant and Westbrook are too good, and it's too important for them to get rest ahead of (presumably) meeting the San Antonio Spurs in Round 2.

There are still some major holes in the Oklahoma defense, but the Thunder should be able to rain shots and move on without much issue going forward. 

---

Postgame Reaction

Durant contextualized his last two performances, per the Associated Press (via USA Today).

"When I play well, I don't throw a party for myself afterward. If I play terrible, I'm not going to go out and change anything up. I'm going to go out there and do the same thing I've been doing."

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle also commented on Durant, saying, "I don't know if he's ever missed 26 shots in a game in his life. The question is, 'Did we make it as hard on him as we could?' And that's why I need to watch the film to get an objective view of that."

Nowitzki offered his thoughts on the differences between Game 2 and Game 3: "The way we won Game 2 was it was a slower-paced game for us, kind of grind it out. It's going to be tough for us win a game if they score 131 points. I don't think we can score 131 right now with the team we roll out there, the injuries."