To the Brink: Oklahoma City On the Cusp of Advancing after wins in Games 3 and 4

After stumbling in Game 2, Oklahoma City swept their road games to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks

Game 3 in a Nutshell: Oklahoma City responded to their Game 2 loss in a strong way, clocking Dallas early and rolling to a 131-102 win to take back the home court advantage in the series. Durant came out scoring early after the worst shooting game of his postseason career, scoring twenty in the first half. Westbrook took the torch in the second, scoring 20 of his own after intermission.

Wesley Matthews answered the call for Dallas, scoring 22 points and hauling in five rebounds, but the rest of the team was unable to score enough to keep up with the Thunder. David Lee and JJ Barea returned just as Deron Williams was unable to suit up – in short, the Dallas injury door continued to revolve, dooming the Mavs to a home loss.  

Game 2 in a Nutshell: With a chance to even the series at home, Dallas fell short, never able to get closer than seven in the second half and falling 119-108 in a testy affair. Kevin Durant’s streak of 67 consecutive 20-point games was snapped, as he missed a late free throw and finished with only nineteen before being ejected for clocking Justin Anderson in the head.

Enes Kanter was particularly effective running the pick-and-roll with Westbrook, scoring 28 points on 12-13 shooting in only 26 minutes. Westbrook set a franchise record with two consecutive games of 25 points and 15 assists. The Thunder’s performance overshadowed Dirk Nowitzki’s 27 points and eight rebounds.

The Good – The Thunder bench came to life in Games 3 and 4, providing efficient scoring and strong contributions on both ends of the court. Enes Kanter only missed two combined shots in the two contests, scoring 21 and 28 respectively. Dion Waiters shot 11-15 himself, including more than 55 percent from downtown. Nick Collison, although he didn’t score in either game, as a team-high +14 in the Thunder’s Game 4 win.

The Bad – The Thunder’s two stars are still struggling to make shots. Durant’s bounce-back Game 3 saw him shoot only 44 percent, and he followed that with a 7-20 performance in Game 4. From distance he was an abysmal 4-13, merely 30 percent. Westbrook shot 37 percent in Game Four, and together they missed 13 free throws over the two games. If Oklahoma City wants to beat San Antonio (sorry Memphis, we’re calling this one) in the conference semi-finals they need to figure out a way to make shots.
Look Ahead – Game 5 returns to Oklahoma City on Monday, where the Thunder will be heavy favorites to close out the series and advance to face San Antonio. Billy Donovan will try to get his stars rest and avoid heavy minutes, but also doesn’t want his players to be forced into a Game Six. It will be interesting to see if his substitution plan changes in any way. Durant will also look to regain his shooting stroke from the regular season before a Round Two matchup where he will need to be drilling shots.