Recap: Thunder 95 at Mavericks 86

Earl K. Sneed recaps the Dallas Mavericks' home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night, after injuries to three of the defending champs' key contributors caused them to play the team with the NBA's best record shorthanded.

DALLAS — Although they were facing the same team it took just five games to defeat in the Western Conference finals last season, the defending champion Dallas Mavericks entered Wednesday night looking to see how well they stack up against the squad with the NBA’s best record.

In a nationally-televised matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Mavericks put their three-game win streak on the line while trying to take the third of four regular-season meetings against the Western Conference finalist, after both teams split the first two games by winning on their home floor. But the Mavs entered the highly-anticipated showdown shorthanded as newcomer Lamar Odom (stomach ailment) and starting center Brendan Haywood (lower back tightness) joined point guard Jason Kidd (right calf strain) on the mend.

Down three main contributors, the Mavericks (14-9) wouldn’t have enough to take down the young Thunder a second time, falling at home to a 95-86 defeat.

“We had plenty of firepower, we just didn’t get it done,” reserve guard Jason Terry said of the loss. “No excuse, every team is going to go through [injuries] at some point in the season, but for us, disappointing loss.”

He added: “For the time being they are the team to beat and they’re playing very well together. … Can they be beaten? Yes. They just were the better team tonight.”

With Kidd and Haywood missing from the Mavs’ starting unit, coach Rick Carlisle continued to stick with third-year guard Rodrigue Beaubois at the point next to swingman Vince Carter in the backcourt, forwards Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki and center Ian Mahinmi, who made his first career start. After a miss by Beaubois and a putback by his French countryman, Mahinmi, the Mavs struck first on the scoreboard. Dallas then took an early edge with a 9-2 spurt as Beaubois asserted himself on the offensive end.

But with Beaubois picking up two quick fouls, the Mavs would use a stretch of nine straight made field goal attempts and the instant offense of new addition Delonte West to take a lead as large as nine before entering the second stanza with 29-21 advantage. Dallas’ 13-of-19 shooting in the period bettered Oklahoma City’s 6-for-19 at the other end.

Despite strong play off the bench by big man Brandan Wright, the Mavs would find themselves up just one, 36-35, after a thunderous alley-oop connection from James Harden to Russell Westbrook with 7:48 left in the half. Two-time scoring champion Kevin Durant then briefly gave the Thunder (17-4) the lead, before Terry took over the scoring duties for the Mavs while finding success from the outside. The Mavs then headed into the halftime break up 52-49 after Marion’s tip-in with .6 ticks on the clock following Nowitzki’s short three attempt.

Led by Terry’s 11 first-half points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting and 2-of-3 from 3-point range, the Mavericks outshot the Thunder through two periods, 47.8 percent to 44.7 percent. The Mavs also combated 24 combined points by Westbrook and Durant with a 26-18 edge in points in the paint and 11-7 margin in second-chance points.

The duo of Durant and Westbrook began to attack relentlessly in the third quarter on the offensive end while big man Serge Ibaka occupied the painted area on defense for the Thunder. Using an 11-2 run the visiting team would assume control on the game. And all told, the Thunder would go ahead by as much as seven before entering the final period with a 71-66 lead after the Mavs hit just three of their 19 shots in the third.

“Give them credit. Third quarter there they kind of took control of the game,” Terry admitted. “We just didn’t make shots. And when they get it going and they get to the free throw line more than us, you’re putting a lot of pressure on your half-court offense and we just didn’t have it tonight.”

A technical foul call on Carlisle would begin the fourth as the coach tried to rally his team. But with Ibaka surpassing his career-high in blocked shots the Mavs would struggle to score on the offensive end. Seemingly simultaneously the Thunder continued to frustrate the opposing head coach as Carlisle headed to the locker room early after accidentally kicking the ball into the stands and earning a second technical call with 9:34 remaining, while Oklahoma City’s advantage grew to double figures.

“I want to apologize to our franchise, [Mavericks owner Mark Cuban] and our fans,” Carlisle said after his second ejection of the season. “The incident where the ball got kicked into the stands, that can’t happen. My intent was not to kick it into the stands, I was trying to kick it to the referee, but I’m not a very good kick. But that can’t happen. The officials made the right call on that one and that’s a regrettable situation.”

Down 10, the Mavs would get back in the game with five unanswered points at the foul line. And after just three made shots in the third, Terry gave the Mavs their first make in the fourth with an and-1 layup to make it a 79-75 deficit with 6:26 remaining. The Mavs would eventually draw to within two with Terry and Wright providing a spark inside off the bench, before a baby hook by Marion tied the game at 85-all.

Still, after back-to-back buckets by Westbrook and Durant, the Thunder remained in control. Westbrook then did the rest, giving the Thunder a 92-85 margin after a 3-pointer with 35.2 seconds left. The Mavs ran out of steam the rest of the way as their three-game win streak came to an end.

“We had some guys down, but we’re more than capable of winning this game. It was a tie game there with just two minutes left and Westbrook hit a big pullup there on a screen-and-roll. He as just a little too open,” Nowitzki said. “But we battled and I think we got the crowd going.”

Off the Dallas bench, Terry led the way with 25 points while Wright pitched in 12 points.

“Ever since I signed here, JET [Terry] has taken me under his wing with the screen-and-roll and we just have great chemistry on the court,” Wright explained. “We haven’t been together that long, but he does a good job of looking for me when I’m rolling off (of screens). He knows that I draw a lot of attention when I go into the paint, so we’ve just gotta keep that going and thrive in those opportunities.”

Marion was the only Mavs starter in double figures with 12 points as well, while Nowitzki finished just 2-for-15 for eight points to go along with eight rebounds. At the other end, Westbrook led all scorers with 33 points on 11-of-24 shooting.

“I think we were right there with them with a lot of key guys out tonight, but we played through it, gave ourselves a chance to win, but we couldn’t pull it out. They’re a very good team and when Westbrook is hitting shots and getting to the basket, he’s tough,” Carter said of the All-Star point guard’s night.

Durant poured in 23 points and Harden was the only other Thunder player in double figures with 10 points off the bench.

After their hot start, the Mavs finished the night outshot by the Thunder, 40.7 percent to 35.7 percent, shooting just 8-of-38 in the second half. Oklahoma City also finished with a 55-44 rebounding separation in addition to a 23-16 edge in fast-break points, 16-15 advantage in second-chance points and 42-38 margin in points in the paint.

“When you’re not playing well a lot of things get magnified. The ball wasn’t going in the basket and there were some other things we needed to do better. [The Thunder] were playing pretty well and they were getting to the rim on us. That caused a lot of problems. The free throw disparity was huge, but the number of makes versus makes wasn’t that far apart. It was just a tough night for us,” Carlisle acknowledged.

The Mavs committed one less turnover than the Thunder’s 16, but Oklahoma City’s 33 free throw attempts were more than Dallas’ 25 shots at the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Ibaka recorded a career-high 10 blocks as the Thunder finished with 13 rejections as a team.

“Well, [Ibaka] blocked some shots. He did a great job of protecting the basket, but again, we had some opportunities that we just didn’t take advantage of. Against a shot-blocker, you have to get to his body, which I thought we did on several occasions, it just didn’t go our way,” Terry concluded.

The Mavs will now use Thursday as a practice day before returning to action on the first night of a back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. That game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Dr. Pepper Family Nights are here! Plans include four Mavs tickets and four McDonald’s extra value meals, starting at $49. Visit mavs.com or call 214-747-MAVS for a schedule of games and to purchase tickets.