 Oklahoma City Thunder 2010/2011 |
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posté par AiR1 : | OKLAHOMA CITY -- It felt like an opportunity for the Oklahoma City Thunder to make a statement. A chance to grab the attention of people who spent the summer hyping them only to be somewhat disappointed and dismissive despite a solid 21-10 start.
The Dallas Mavericks brought one of the Western Conference's best squads into town. Want people to talk about you? Beat really good teams. Pretty straightforward, really.
After Dirk Nowitzki left early in the second quarter with a twisted right knee, it was almost as though someone was giving the Thunder a late Christmas present.
What Oklahoma City didn't count on was Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and the rest of the talented Mavericks stepping up. It's what the really good teams do, I guess.
"They've got a lot of weapons on their team," Kevin Durant said. "It's more than just Dirk. They played tough, man. You've got to give them credit for making big shots."
The Mavs used a zone defense and slick jump-shooting to outscore the Thunder 24-12 in the fourth en route to 103-93 victory at the Ford Center. Kevin Durant scored 28 points but was just 2-for-5 in the fourth (with three straight misses during a Dallas 7-0 run), Russell Westbrook couldn't find a rhythm and the Mavs just did their thing -- they got big stops, big rebounds and big buckets.
"When they went to the zone, we were running our zone offense. It was just we were settling for jump shots, and when your jump shot is not falling you've got to go inside to get the outside; [it's] something we'll look at and try to figure it out," Brooks said. "The next time we play them, I'm sure we will see it. That's part of the growth of our team, is figuring out how to score points when we have a cold stretch and figuring out how to get stops."
With Dallas winning with its best player playing only 12 minutes, some may feel like the young Thunder squad still has a long way to go before they climb into one of the West's top seats. Despite the loss, Oklahoma City can find solace in the way it played the Mavs. A four-minute dry spell in the middle of the fourth (with Durant missing a couple open jumpers that he normally drills) is what did it in. Had those shots dropped, this could have easily turned into a big statement game for OKC.
Instead, the jump-shots rimmed and rattled out, Terry (13 points) hit big shots on the other end and Caron Butler and Marion combined for 41 points. Funny game, that basketball.
The Thunder's record (21-11) puts them squarely among the West's best at fifth in the conference, but if we learned anything Wednesday in a 14-point loss to the Knicks, it's that they aren't completely there yet. There's a reason the Mavericks are a title favorite. They have good players, a good coach and a good system. They are good.
The Thunder walk away 10-point losers but also leave shaking their heads thinking about what could have been. |
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