Jose Calderon was the setup man and Dirk Nowitzki the closer as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 128-119, in an overtime thriller at American Airlines Center on Tuesday night.
Thunder vs. Mavericks recap: Dirk Nowitzki, Jose Calderon lead Dallas past OKC in OT, 128-119
The Thunder were denied a guaranteed playoff spot as the Mavs protected their home floor with a shooting barrage in the final five minutes.
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Jose Calderon drilled a contested three-pointer from the top of the arc in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 111 apiece with 26.8 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
Dirk Nowitzki nearly ended things in regulation with this narrow miss as time expired:
The Mavs (43-29) blew their third lead of four points or more in the final frame during their current home-stand before finding a way to overcome it behind stellar shooting.
Dallas shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line while the Thunder managed 50 percent from the field on their own.
Kevin Durant finished the game with a game-high 43 points and added six rebounds and five assists. Among the most encouraging aspects of the loss for the Thunder (52-19) has to be the play of Russell Westbrook, who played without restriction despite a reported minutes limit en route to 23 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals, though he committed a whopping eight turnovers.
Durant and Westbrook had it going early, as evidenced by this connection in the first:
And then there was this:
OKC shot a blazing 57 percent in the first half and 40 percent from the three point line while putting up 60 points. But 12 turnovers that resulted in seven points helped the Mavs weather their offensive firepower.
The second quarter featured Westbrook in end-of-season form.
The recovering floor general scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, making 1-of-2 looks from beyond the arc. He added a steal and an assist in the second frame in an efficient seven minutes of action.
On the other side, Calderon went stride-for-stride, surpassing Westbrook’s output by pouring in 3-of-4 three-pointers and dishing out two assists with 11 points of his own before finishing with 22 to go along with eight assists.
The second half was relatively quiet for both teams, but not short of excitement, especially in the final minutes of regulation. The fourth quarter alone saw six ties and four lead changes.
Dallas committed five turnovers in the final 12 minutes, allowing the Thunder to score seven points off giveaways during that stretch. They also shot just 28.6 percent from beyond the arc as OKC came roaring back.
Two late stoppages in overtime for review of possession brought the electric crowd to a lull, but they still walked away happy with a Mavs home win.
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