Dallas Mavericks-Oklahoma Thunder (Game 4)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Dallas Mavericks-Oklahoma Thunder (Game 4)

Posted by arme_bryant at 10:37 AM ,

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd used their experiences to guide the Dallas Mavericks to a shocking 112-105 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the NBA’s Western Conference final Monday night.

“We worked really hard these two games to win, and none of that guarantees anything for Game 5. We know that,” said coach Rick Carlisle.

“All of us involved with this team have been through a lot of these wars,” Carlisle added. “We understand our position that we’re in.

“We respect it. We’re very humble about it. We’ve got to get ourselves revved up and ready for Wednesday, because that’s an opportunity.”

Down big in the last closing quarter of the game, the Mavericks stayed focus and rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final 5 minutes of regulation to pull off the stunning win.
Nowitzki scored 12 of his 40 points in the dramatic fourth quarter comeback, where Dallas used a 17-2 run to force the game into overtime.

“It’s just a bunch of veterans with a lot of unique stories. A lot of guys have been through a lot in this league and have been around forever,” Nowitzki said.

“A bunch of guys have been to the finals. … Ultimately, we have one goal and we came together and fought through some stuff.”

Kidd then hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 40.3 seconds remaining in overtime and finished with 17 and seven assists in the win that put the Mavericks 3-1 up in the seven game series.

Jason Terry added 20 points, while Shawn Marion was crucial when called on for his defensive skills for Dallas.

Kevin Durant led the way for the Thunder with 29 points and 15 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook added 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Serge Ibaka finished with 18 points, 10 boards and five blocks.

The Thunder also got 12 points apiece from Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison, who also grabbed seven boards in a game that James Harden fouled out.

Oklahoma City were suffering their first consecutive losses of the postseason and the first back-to-back home losses in six months.

Game 5 will be Wednesday night in Dallas.

“There’s no doubt it was a tough loss,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “If this loss did not hurt, there’s no such thing as a loss that can hurt you.”