Thunder vs. Mavericks: Game 4 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs
There wasn't much defense on display at American Airlines Center on Saturday night, but the Oklahoma City Thunder captured a 3-1 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks with a 119-108 win thanks to the contributions of six double-figure scorers.
Russell Westbrook led the way for the Western Conference's No. 3 seed with 25 points, 15 assists and five rebounds while shooting 7-of-19 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range. The effort represented the third 20-point, 15-assist game of Westbrook's playoff career, and his brilliance in the open floor allowed Oklahoma City to pull away down the stretch, as Mavs.com's Bobby Karalla observed:
Westbrook also became the first player since Kevin Johnson in 1992 to post back-to-back games in the playoffs with at least 20 points and 15 dimes, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Kevin Durant added 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting (1-of-4 from three) before officials ejected him for a flagrant-2 foul on Justin Anderson late in the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City's supplementary scorers made up for his woes in a big way.
Serge Ibaka was sensational again with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and Enes Kanter continued to bully Dallas down low with a game-high 28 points (12-of-13 shooting) and six rebounds as he went ballistic in the fourth quarter to ice the game, per ESPN.com's Zach Lowe:
Conversely, the Mavericks leaned heavily on Dirk Nowitzki after Deron Williams exited 90 seconds into the game, when he aggravated his sports hernia injury, per the Oklahoman's Erik Horne.
Nowitzki did everything in his power to push the Mavericks toward victory with 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting, but ancillary efforts from Raymond Felton (19 points), Wesley Matthews (19 points) and Devin Harris (12 points) weren't enough to match those provided by Oklahoma City's deep cast of sidekicks.
During a stretch that spanned the final two minutes of the first quarter, Dion Waiters single-handedly turned the tide by scoring seven points, including a clutch three-point play with time winding down in the opening frame:
The Thunder had a plus-14 scoring differential in Waiters' first five minutes on the floor, which led ESPN.com's Royce Young to make a declaration that may have been the first of its kind this season:
And while it took Durant and Westbrook time to find their rhythms, the Thunder collectively had no problem gashing Dallas' defense throughout the first half.
Oklahoma City shot 52.3 percent from the field over that stretch, and it consistently converted from close range against a Mavericks defense that allowed opponents to shoot 1.5 percent better than the league average inside of six feet during the regular season.
And while the Mavericks did an admirable job of hanging around with no consistent second scoring option to speak of, their lack of firepower rendered their comeback attempts futile.
Westbrook eventually found a groove from distance as he nailed three triples in the third quarter, and his penetration proved to be just as effective since it forced Dallas' defenders to collapse and allowed him to pick the opposition apart, as Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney noted:
Now within one game of the second round, the Thunder have an opportunity to slam the door shut on the Mavericks on Monday (8 p.m. ET on TNT) in Oklahoma City.
However, they'll need to hold their breath and hope Durant is eligible to play in the closeout contest.
NBA protocol dictates that Durant could be subject to a suspension—but the league won't determine his availability for Game 5 until it reviews the play.
The good news for the Thunder is that even if Durant misses the next game, Westbrook is qualified to shoulder the load. And if Kanter, Ibaka, Waiters and Co. continue to exceed expectations, Oklahoma City's collective confidence figures to skyrocket entering Round 2.
Postgame Reaction
Once the final buzzer sounded, Westbrook spoke to ESPN about Oklahoma City's big Game 3 triumph:
At the postgame podium, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan explained that Durant meant no harm when he fouled Anderson, per Horne and Mavs.com's Earl K. Sneed:
"It was a flagrant, even though I wasn't trying to intentionally foul him," Durant said, per Young.
Horne also reported that Durant has since texted Anderson an apology. "It was just bad timing," Durant added. "I wasn’t trying to hurt him."
Speaking to reporters, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle appeared to take a shot at Kanter after the big man torched Dallas' front line, according to Young:
"All respect to Jamal Crawford, but I honestly don't think [Sixth Man] should've been close," Westbrook said of Kanter, per Young.
"The ball's out there," Matthews said, according to the Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko. "We got to go get it. Do we want Game 6 or to talk about the season we had?"
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
