Poor Second Half Lets One Get Away: Thunder 99 Mavericks 95

I want to sit here and write about Shawn Marion’s glorious first half. But his 21-point first-half performance was negated when the Mavericks were outscored 22-15 in the third quarter by a Thunder team that was ready to go.

That’s the same Maverick team that despite Dirk Nowitzki being inactive for the sixth consecutive game scored 30 in the first quarter, including a dozen from Marion on 6 for 7 shooting. Jason Terry also got going early with six of his 19 total points in the opening 12 minutes.

To start the third quarter, the Thunder outscored the Mavericks 9-4 thanks to a varied attack and at the 8:43 mark of the third quarter took a 60-59 lead, their first of the game, on a shot by Thabo Sefolosha. The shot was his only made field of the contest. The Thunder maintained the lead until the final buzzer.

The Mavs gave one up, and three 3’s by DeShawn Stevenson wasn’t enough to salvage the pieces despite a now requisite fourth-quarter show by Terry with nine points on 4 for 4 shooting.

Marion finished with a team high 25 points, including a highlight reel-worthy driving layup shot in the second quarter.

Notes

• Tyson Chandler tallied a double-double of 14 points and 18 rebounds.
• All the starters played at least 35 minutes.
• Kevin Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer, had 28 points.