NBA Playoffs 2016: Edgy Mavs Still No Match For Thunder
The Dallas Mavericks’ newfound edginess isn’t doing much to help them overcome the firepower of the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first round matchup.
The Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder do not like each other.
This mutual disdain isn’t new: Russell Westbrook and J.J. Barea were involved in several altercations in a game in January, including one that ended up getting Barea’s teammate Charlie Villanueva ejected for restraining Westbrook by putting his hand on his throat. However, that hatred has heightened in their first round matchup in the 2016 NBA Playoffs.
In Game 1, the Thunder annihilated the Mavs behind stellar play from Westbrook (24 points, 11 assists and five boards), Kevin Durant (23 points) and stingy defense, winning the game by a 38-point margin. Since suffering such a humiliating defeat, the Mavericks have responded by playing with a certain vitriol towards their opponent.
It started with Villanueva’s standing protest of Westbrook and rookie Cameron Payne‘s pregame dance routine that seemed to set the tone for Dallas in Game 2, as players like Raymond Felton and Deron Williams, who have been rather ineffective throughout the regular season, came alive to lead Dallas to a win. That same edge helped the Mavs go on a run led by Dirk Nowitzki to pull themselves back within 10 of the Thunder in the middle of the third quarter in Game 3.
Indeed, the disrespect they suffered in Game 1 has improved the team’s overall play, as they have averaged 93.5 points per game on 45.1 percent shooting from the field.
Unfortunately, their newfound edge hasn’t much to give them an advantage over a superior Thunder team.
The fact of the matter is that despite the worst shooting night of Kevin Durant’s career and stellar performances from their starters and role players, the Mavs barely escaped Oklahoma City with a win in Game 2 after a Steven Adams tip-in at the buzzer was waved off.
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In Game 3, the Thunder made sure no such slip-up would happen again, overcoming multiple scuffles to once again embarrass Dallas by putting up a colossal 131 points and beating the Mavs by 29.
Durant rebounded from his awful Game 2 performance by posting 34 points and adding seven boards. Westbrook once again played like a man on fire, putting up 25 points and 11 dimes on 9-of-16 shooting.
More importantly, the Thunder’s supporting cast continues to have a strong series, with the bench averaging 34.3 points per game through the first three contests. Reserves Dion Waiter and Enes Kanter have been especially crucial to this success, putting up 19 and 21 respectively in Game 3 and averaging a combined 25 points a night for the series.
The Thunder are definitely flexing their depth in this series and have ran the Mavericks off of the floor in two of the first three games, making a Game 2 one-point loss look like a fluke. Sure, the Mavericks have put up a lot of fight in the last two games, but playing pissed off and with renewed energy doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, especially when you’re giving up 117.7 points a game on 45.5 percent shooting.
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If the Mavericks can’t come up with a way to significantly slow a Thunder squad that is currently firing on all cylinders, they’ll find themselves out of the playoffs sooner rather than later.