The shape curve of the Dallas Mavericks (5-15) clearly points upwards. Thanks to a strong defensive performance, the Mavs win 97:81 (BOXSCORE) against the Oklahoma City Thunder (8-11). Apart from Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, OKC is a complete failure. Dirk Nowitzki, on the other hand, delivers his best game of the season.
The beginning of the game was certainly not a nice one to look at. Dallas started from 1-8 out of the field, while the Thunders on the other side of the peloton put a threesome at the ring. Only after Wesley Matthews (12 points, 4/8 threesomes) midway through the first two consecutive successes of Downton did the game take a positive turn for the Mavs.
However, this did not apply to the Thunders. Apart from Russell Westbrook, who scored 16 of the 24 OKC points in the first quarter, there was absolutely nothing on the visitors’ side. The Mavs made good use of the superiority in the second section (27:13) and gained a 16-point advantage in the meantime.
From the Thunder’s point of view, things didn’t get much better afterwards. Even though Oklahoma City came back to 10 points thanks to some of Carmelo Anthony’s trio (16 points, 4/7 threesomes), the Mavs were once again in the lead (78:55) at the end of the third quarter with 23 points.
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That was the end of the game. The fourth quarter fell to the extensive garbage time, in which the Thunders approached 12 points again. Seriously in danger was the third victory from the last four games for the Mavs but not more.
Top scorer at Dallas was Dirk Nowitzki with 19 points, Maxi Kleber also delivered a good performance with 7 points and 5 rebounds. Dennis Smith, Jr. came to 15 points despite initial foul problems, with Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews scoring 12 points each. On the side of the Thunder, only Westbrook acted in normal form. Last season’s MVP scored 28 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists, just barely passing a triple double. Otherwise, however, the Thunder disappointed in every respect.
Mavericks vs. Thunder: This way to the BOXSCORE!
Dirk Nowitzki. The German player delivered his best game of the season 17/18, especially from downtown Nowitzki played around. 4 of his 7 attempts from a distance found their target, the tall blonde scored 7 out of 10 from the field. With his 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals Nowitzki also filled the boxing score off scoring.
Paul George. It was an evening to forget for the 27-year-old. After his first throw of the game slipped through the reuse, PG13 put the next 11 throws next to it. In the end he only had a meager 2 points (1/12 FG) and the 10 assists and 6 rebounds could not hide the overall weak performance.
Probably the greatest strength of the Thunders are the aggressive drives to the basket. However, Dallas did a very good job in the first half, preventing OKC from these dangerous penetrations with the help of many switches. As a result, Westbrook and Co. in isolation and jumpers from the middle distance. The throwing rates showed that this was not a very good idea. This also meant that the Mavs won the duel in the Zone with 36:24 points in the paint.