5/24/11

Mavericks 112 Thunder 105 OT
Dal lead 3-1

Dirk Nowitzki put together a legendary performance late in the game as he and his Mavericks team engineered a classic fourth quarter rally to win in OT. The Dallas Mavericks now have a strangle hold on the series with a 3-1 advantage, with the series returning to Dallas for game 5.

With the Thunder up 15 and 4:34 left to play in the game, the Thunder’s James Harden fouled out of the game. In the last 4:26 the Dallas Mavericks went on a 17-2 run to force the game into overtime. During the spurt, Dirk Nowitzki hit big shot after big shot to almost single handily lead the Mavs back and finished with 40 points. The Mavs went on to control the overtime session and now control the series. Jason Terry added 20 points off the bench.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 29 points, and 15 rebounds. Russell Westbrook had a good all around game with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Both Durant and Westbrook played well, until the 4:34 mark. After that point Durant and Westbrook did not score and showed that neither one of them are clutch at this point. The Thunder played with a lack of poise down the stretch and their offense fell apart. Durant was shut down by Shawn Marion, and even panicked when he forced up a deep 3 with a lot of time remaining. The shot would end up being blocked by Marion. Westbrook also choked and missed 2 important free throws in the final minutes that could have halted the Dallas rally.

The Mavericks will look to advance to the NBA Finals wednesday night in game 5.