2011 NBA Playoffs: Dallas Mavericks Defeat Thunder as Dirk Nowitzki Pours in 48

The game between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder started off with plenty of passing. Players got plenty of touches, and during the game, both teams were in search of setting the tone.

The direction that former Philadelphia 76er and head coach Scotty Brooks gave the team was to get in the groove early, and propel the team to play within themselves, in a tight and organized fashion.

Dirk Nowitzki scored the first eight points in the game for the Mavs.

Kevin Durant was also firing up the nets. Shot after shot was dropping for his Oklahoma City Thunder. Nowitzki scored 12 points in the first quarter alone, and would later go on to score a season high of 48 points.

At the half, ESPN Analyst Magic Johnson said that he thought the point guard should be getting more passes for Kevin Durant who was lighting up the boards during this game.

Magic later in the broadcast went on to say that they are feeding Nowitzki nicely, both with Jason Kidd and other role players on the team.

Nowitzki’s next feat was scoring 31 points in 26 minutes. He was battling underneath, just outside of the paint and would finish the shot on one leg. The 7'0" power forward shot mostly from the right side of the floor. Even for good measure, he drove the baseline for an unassisted dunk.

Kevin Durant chipped in 40 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks. 

Westbrook had 20 points and one steal. Jason Terry had 24 points, two assists and one block.

With 4:12 left in the third quarter, Nowitzki had 34 points. He was also 24-24 from the line and consistently shoots around 90 percent on the season.

In the third quarter, Nowitzki had 17 points alone. Eventually after all the fouling, Dirk hit a perfect 24-24 from the charity stripe. With 10:30 left in the game, the Mavericks had a 12 point lead.

Kevin Durant was having plays drawn up for him so he may not take that much of a pounding like Nowitzki does. In and around the basket, Dirk was getting clobbered.

Team stats were as follows. Dallas shot 53.4 percent from the field and Oklahoma City shot 47.2 percent. Dallas had 22 assists while Oklahoma City had 19.

Mavs point guard J.J. Barea scored 21 points for the game. A native of Puerto Rico, he had the last 12 points in the fourth quarter for his team.