Thunder melt down in Dallas, 119-115

Royce Young -

BOX SCORE

DALLAS — So many games. So many games lost exactly like this throughout this rollercoaster season.

The Thunder play a good game for the most part, save for a flurry of bad defense in the third quarter and some critical crunchtime offense. And they lose. It’s what happened in Phoenix. What happened in Portland. And what happened in Chicago.

In Dallas tonight, a 39-point third quarter for the Mavs erased a double-digit halftime Thunder lead and had the score tied 92-92 heading to the fourth. It went back-and-forth, with the Mavs holding a two possession lead for most of the final six minutes. With four minutes left, Westbrook set up Steven Adams for a bucket, and then got his own to tie it up 104-104.

The Mavs came back with back-to-back buckets to restore their two-possession lead. Westbrook hit two free throws, then had one of those WHOA sequences where he stuffed Tyson Chandler, and knocked down a 15-foot fadeaway to tie the game back up with 2:06 left.

And then cue the meltdown. Adams fouled out wrestling for a rebound with Chandler, and Chandler hit both free throws. Westbrook caught all air on a difficult 22-footer, and Chandler Parsons finished a layup, putting the Mavs back up four. Westbrook attacked, but was called for an iffy charge, his fifth foul, three of which were rather dubious. You could see the rage bubbling up, with Westbrook restraining himself from a critical technical. So he went for a wild steal on the inbound pass, losing his cool and ending his night with a sixth foul.

Parsons hit both free throws to put the Mavs up six, and while the Thunder made things interesting for the final 59 seconds, a mental error by rookie Mitch McGary was the nail in the coffin. Anthony Morrow had hit a 3 to cut the Dallas lead to three with 35 seconds remaining, a perfect 2-for-1 executed out of the timeout. The Thunder simply needed a stop to have a chance to tie. With the whole bench screaming “NO FOUL! NO FOUL!” McGary ran over and grabbed Monta Ellis, putting him at the line.

“Yeah, just a mental mistake,” McGary said. “Just need to learn from it.”

Those crunchtime moments are the focus, for good reason, but the Thunder really lost this one in the third quarter, allowing the Mavs to 39 points. The defensive inconsistency is an ongoing issue, and one that is at the heart of a lot of this close losses. Sure, Westbrook could’ve done this, or Brooks could’ve done that, but without the Thunder getting consistent stops, it’s putting them in these compromised situations.

It’s a tough loss, no question. The Thunder played well. They overcame a slew of early turnovers, got a great performance from Westbrook, big contributions from the bench, survived some difficult officiating, and had a good chance. They just didn’t finish. It’s frustrating, it’s annoying, it’s demoralizing. But it’s not over for them. Not by a long shot.

NOTES:

  • Westbrook’s final line: 24 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists, four steals, seven turnovers.
  • That’s now 38 turnovers in his last five games for Westbrook.
  • Westbrook was not all that chatty postgame. He talked for 50 seconds, answering four questions.
  • Asked about the mental breakdowns, he said, “Just go back to the film, see what we did wrong.”
  • Asked to elaborate specifically, he Westbrook’d: “I just said we have to go back to the film and watch it and see.”
  • I definitely respect Westbrook’s right to watch the film to better know what he’s saying, but at the same time, the “gotta watch the film,” is such an easy copout answer to skirt any question. It’s not like anyone is going to follow-up with Westbrook on Wednesday and say, “So now that you’ve watched the film from Monday’s game, what were those mental breakdowns?”
  • McGary had a double-double in the first half in nine minutes. He finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds in 17 minutes.
  • A lot of people were calling for more McGary down the stretch. Did you see how he defended Dirk? That was a bloodbath.
  • Adams fouled out with two minutes left, and Brooks subbed small again, going with Andre Roberson. I found that interesting, because Nick Collison would’ve made sense there.
  • With the Mavs pushing late in the third, Dion Waiters scored six straight points and I swear, it felt like a 42-0 run. But instead of feeding the hot hand, Waiters didn’t see the ball much again, because his teammates probably knew, if he touches this, it’s going up.
  • The Mavs have without question the best arena PA guy in the league. At least I think so. Though I was talking with some Dallas area reporters and they disagreed. I guess if I heard him 41+ times a year I’d think differently. I just love the Mavs game presentation in general.
  • The fans were awesome tonight. Totally had the feel of a playoff game.
  • Public service announcement: The “calling it now, not making the playoffs” after a loss tweets get pretty annoying.
  • Enes Kanter with his seventh double-double with the Thunder: 19 points and 13 rebounds. But woo wee, some of that defense.
  • Kyle Singler impressively had five fouls in 10 minutes.
  • Man, the officiating tonight was, um, interesting. The foul count ended up 34-27, Thunder, and the free throws even at 35. But between the two terrible flagrants, the horrible technicals, and the fact the second half fouls were 24-11, Thunder, it was just one of those games you have to shake your head at.
  • Kevin Durant took some Twizzlers from a kid sitting courtside on his way back to the Thunder bench after halftime. Important reporting, I know.
  • Some kids were lined up pregame to high five the Mavs as they came out on the floor. One was wearing a Durant jersey. They made him take it off. #morereporting

Next up: Home against the Celtics on Wednesday