After Comeback Win, Mavericks Focus on Ending Series
By TOM SPOUSTA
DALASL — Kevin Durant held his shooting pose for an extra second, convinced he had just delivered the decisive blow in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. As his 3-point shot swished and the Oklahoma City Thunder surged to a 15-point lead Monday night, Durant turned and mimicked pulling an imaginary championship belt across his waist.
The Dallas Mavericks know how fickle and unforgiving five minutes can be, though. That would be Durant’s last basket as the Mavericks stunned the Thunder with a 17-2 run to force overtime, then claimed a 112-105 victory, their fifth in seven road games in these playoffs.
With a 3-1 series lead, the Mavericks are poised to finish off Oklahoma City in Game 5 on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.
“All of us involved with this team have been through a lot of these wars,” Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle said. “We understand the position we’re in. We respect it. We’re very humble about it. We’ve got to get rested up and ready for Wednesday because that’s an opportunity.”
Jason Kidd, 38, led the Nets to two N.B.A. finals, only to be denied each time. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, both 33, are haunted by their only brush with a championship in 2006, when they led the Mavericks to a 2-0 lead against the Miami Heat, followed by a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 3, only to be eliminated in six games.
“It’s just a bunch of veterans with unique stories,” said Nowitzki, who scored 40 points Monday, including two free throws with 6.4 seconds left for a 101-101 tie at the end of regulation. “A lot of guys have been through a lot in this league and have been around forever. It’s a bunch of experienced guys that ultimately have one goal and came together and fought through some stuff.”
Once in overtime, the Mavericks’ huddles were calm and focused; the Thunder’s bench exuded panic and vacant stares. Nowitzki said the Mavericks talked about not wasting their comeback.
“We’re here and this is our ballgame, we’ve got to go for it; that’s what we talked about,” he said. “We’re just a veteran team trying to play off each other. We were finally getting stops and getting rebounds. We just ran down, we free-flowed. I don’t remember actually calling a play the last couple minutes. We just ran down and pick-and-rolled and free-flowed it.”
Only eight N.B.A. teams have rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series, and the Thunder’s body language did not translate into adding to N.B.A. history. Oklahoma City outplayed the Mavericks for most of the game, holding a 55-33 edge in rebounding and a 23-16 advantage in assists.
Although the Thunder shot 46.7 percent from the field, it was again stone cold from 3-point range, making only 2 of 13 attempts. In its two losses at Oklahoma City Arena, the Thunder was 3 of 30 on 3-point attempts.
On Monday night, the Thunder also committed 25 turnovers, led by Durant’s 9.
Durant finished with 29 points, but with a chance to win the game in regulation, Shawn Marion blocked his 3-point jumper.
“Shawn knows exactly what we need from him,” Carlisle said. “We just need his tenacity defensively. We need him to be wearing Durant like a suit.”
Including overtime, the Mavericks finished off the Thunder with a 28-6 run. Kidd’s 3-pointer with 40 seconds to play was the dagger that Durant thought he had delivered.
“Everybody asks questions about his age and all that other stuff, but the thing I would say to anybody is never underestimate greatness,” Carlisle said of Kidd.
Kidd finished with 17 points and 7 assists.
“I’m proud of Jason Kidd, the way he battles on defense, the floor game he leads for us every night, the steals he gets, and then the huge 3 in the corner in overtime to put us over the top,” Nowitzki said. “I tip my hat to him every night the way he competes.
“People still think that Kidd is not a good shooter, but over the years he’s proved everybody wrong. He made big shots for us this season ever since he got here. Anytime he’s open down the stretch I think it’s going in.”
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