It was likely that Nowitski wouldn’t match the 48 points he had in Game One, and this was so for a number of reasons – Coach Scott Brooks would come up with a different defensive scheme; a new officiating crew might not send him to the line 24 times (and he may actually miss!); and hey, 48 points is a lot!But even with a 16-point fourth quarter, it still seemed as though Dirk had come down to earth.
James Harden, on the other hand, was headed for orbit as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 106-100, and gained a split in the Metroplex.
Harden and the OKC bench appeared to take personally that Jason Terry outscored them all by himself on Tuesday night. Harden had a career scoring night with 23 points and was 4 for 7 from outside the arc. The Thunder’s second unit plus Kevin Durant played almost the entire final period and earned their time on the court.
In fact, after Russell Westbrook picked up his fourth foul at the end of the third quarter, he never re-entered the contest. It was somewhat surprising because Westbrook completely turned his game around from Game One. He had 18 points in three quarters and shot the ball much better. He looked like a point guard, not just a ball handler.
Give credit to Coach Brooks who decided that chemistry of a set of five was bigger than the play of one and kept the crew on the court that was doing the damage to the Mavs. Make no mistake, the starting five for the Thunder need to remain starters. But Harden, Eric Maynor, and Nick Collison were the difference makers tonight.
The Thunder goes home on Saturday night to face the Mavericks in OKC Arena knowing they have wrested home-court advantage away from the Red River rivals.
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