Tonight's game was Rick Carlisle's 1,000th as an NBA head coach, and he celebrated by starting the three-guard lineup he loves so much. The Mavericks were without Tyson Chandler, who missed his first game this season with back spasms, and the Thunder were still missing Kevin Durant, who remains out with an ankle sprain. Despite the absence of these two key players and an off night from Russell Westbrook, this game was entertaining, featuring a rejuvenated Dirk Nowitzki, a strong performance from Chandler Parsons, our very first Raymond Felton sighting, and (of course) some clutch plays from Charlie Villanueva. The Mavericks weathered a season high from Serge Ibaka to win a close one 112-107.
The small-ball Mavs got off to a hot start, scoring eight points on their first three possessions, with open looks for both Monta Ellis and Dirk from the top of the arc and an easy layup for Parsons. An early Ellis-Rondo double team limited Westbrook's offensive explosiveness, and he continued to struggle throughout the quarter, missing all five of his field goal attempts.
The Mavs' efficient offense during the first quarter (50 percent overall and 45.5 from deep) was led by Parsons, who had 15 points on six of eight shooting (three of four from three), and Dirk, who was perfect from the field in the first quarter. Dallas made the Thunder look inefficient by comparison, but OKC actually had a decent first quarter, scoring 26 points on 50 percent shooting. They were unable to take advantage of the Mavericks' perimeter defense, which looked stronger than usual, and took just two three-point shots all quarter, missing both. The Mavericks' strong shooting was helped by their uncharacteristically good rebounding, besting the second-in-the-league Thunder during the first quarter. They closed the first up 33-26.
Dallas got off to a quick start in the second, expanding their lead to 12, but the Thunder bench quickly cut it back down. Reggie Jackson and Anthony Morrow had more success against the Dallas defense than Westbrook did, helping to close the lead to five. An and-one from Kendrick Perkins brought the Thunder to within four, and a Morrow steal from Barea led to a fast-break layup that cut the lead two.
Westbrook's offensive struggles continued through the first few minutes of the second, but he finally started to look like himself halfway through the quarter with an impressive steal. The Mavs managed to prevent the fast break, and Westbrook had to dish to Reggie Jackson for the basket to cut the lead to one, but soon after he finally got his first field goal to give the Thunder the lead with five minutes left. Westbrook quickly followed that pull-up jumper with a steal and fast-break lay-up to give the Thunder their largest lead of the night on a 10-2 run. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, but Dallas was able to take a 64-58 lead going into halftime in part by taking advantage of the bonus, making seven free throws as part of an 11-0 during the last few minutes of the quarter.
The Mavs' small ball line-up provided plenty of offensive firepower and did an impressive job on defense, slowing Westbrook for a quarter and a half and forcing plenty of first-half Thunder turnovers (and Dallas was able to convert OKC's 12 turnovers into 13 points), but their lack of interior defense with Chandler out showed. The Thunder were able to grab 38 points in the paint during the first half, to the Mavs' 22. The Thunder's shooting heated up in the second (they closed the quarter shooting 54.2 percent), and both teams returned to their usual rebounding form, with the Mavs ending the half with 19 rebounds to the Thunder's 27.
The first half of this game was dominated by Dirk, Chandler Parsons, and Monta Ellis, who scored 48 of the team's 64 points, with the bench contributing just four points. It's also (sort of) worth noting that Raymond Felton made his debut this quarter: he played one minute and had no stats to report.
After a hot start, the Dallas' three-point shooting cooled considerably in the second half, and the Thunder continued to have their way in the paint. The Mavericks held on to their lead through the first few minutes of the third, but the Thunder pulled ahead on a pair of Westbrook free throws halfway into the third quarter. There were several lead changes, with neither team leading by more than three for most of the quarter, until the Thunder expanded the lead in the last two minutes. The Mavericks were again led by Dirk and Parsons, but they didn't get quite enough help to stop the Thunder this quarter. Both Ellis and Rondo struggled offensively, combining for 7-25 over the first three quarters, and the bench continued to be quiet on offense. The third quarter closed with OKC up 88-81 on a 7-0 run.
The fourth quarter opened with a dubious foul call to give Dirk his fifth, followed by the rare "free throw stuck in the rim" jump ball, which the Mavs won. The Thunder maintained a small lead for the first few minutes, but got themselves into early foul trouble, and the Mavs were able to turn things around thanks to a series of back-to-back-to-back clutch Charlie Villanueva plays. He drew a Reggie Jackson charge and followed it with a lay-up and a corner three to give the Mavericks a two-point lead. As in the third, the teams traded small leads. Ellis briefly looked like he may have another one of those fourth quarters after he scored out of a time out and then immediately got a steal, but it ultimately wasn't that kind of night for Monta, though he did manage several timely Dirk assists. Ellis had a scary fall late in the game, but managed to walk off the court on his own.
Fortunately, Russell Westbrook also continued his struggles, ending the game shooting 6-23. It was a Westbrook foul on Dirk and the subsequent free throws that put the Mavericks up for good, and he also missed two shots that would've given the Thunder the lead with under a minute and a half left. A Parsons steal with under a minute left all but guaranteed the win. Rondo missed two free throws with nine seconds left and a five point Dallas lead, but the Mavericks were able to fend off the Thunder's final offensive effort. Dirk led all Mavericks with 30 points and five rebounds. Final score: Mavericks win, 112-107.
The Mavericks will have a night off before facing the Washington Wizards in Dallas on Tuesday, with tip-off set for 7:30pm Central.