Game 2 Preview: (7) Mavericks (0-1) at (2) Thunder (1-0)
Earl K. Sneed reports from Oklahoma City and previews Game 2 between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder as the defending champions try to head back to Big D with a 1-1 split.
Game 2 Preview: (7) Mavericks (0-1) at (2) Thunder (1-0)
OKLAHOMA CITY — There figures to be plenty of adjustments made by both the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder heading into Monday night’s Game 2 of their opening-round series.
That could serve the defending champion Mavericks well, however, after watching their seven-point lead with 3:23 to go in Game 1 dwindle away before falling to a 99-98 defeat on three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant’s game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds on the clock.
Looking to steal the second game after the Thunder narrowly escaped with a win on its home floor, the reigning titleholders will try to rally around their veteran leadership and experience to keep from falling in a 0-2 hole. And with an opportunity to still head back to Dallas with a split at 1-1, the Mavs hope to again seize a lead in Chesapeake Energy Arena while finishing the deal this time around.
“If any team can recover from it, it’s an experienced one, and we have a lot of older guys who have been through a lot,” Mavs leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki said after posting a team-high 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting in Game 1. “It’s a big game for us on Monday and hopefully we play a more all-around game.”
“Well, we’re an older team, we’re a veteran team, and I think we’ve all been in the playoffs and we’ve lost at some point,” point guard Jason Kidd added. “You know, our job is to figure out how to get a split and hopefully we can do that Monday.”
In order to do that, however, the Mavs will once again try to contain Durant, who finished the game just 10-of-27 from the field while scoring 25 points thanks to the defensive pressure of forward Shawn Marion.
Meanwhile, the Mavs will try to limit point guard Russell Westbrook as well, who led the Thunder with a game-high 28 points on 13-of-23 shooting and created scoring opportunities for big man Serge Ibaka to tally up 22 points inside.
At the other end of the floor, the Mavs will again try to rely on the hot shooting of sixth man Jason Terry, who finished the night with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 4-for-5 from behind the three-point line. But after Terry attempted just one shot in the fourth quarter — his lone miss from behind the arc — while matched up against Westbrook, the Mavs know they’ll have to make some adjustments in order to free up the star reserve for open looks.
“Westbrook was active on him but frankly we were going to Dirk most of the time,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of Terry’s lack of involvement in the fourth. “That’s where I think our balance could be a little bit better and that’s on me. I can do some things to get JET [Terry] a little more involved.
“We’re gonna make adjustments, of course,” the coach added, “but our core game is not gonna change all that much. But there are some things we’re gonna do differently and there are some things we have to do better in. And the things we have to do better are some of the things we have to adjust, they’re not necessarily changes.”
Note: The Mavs-Thunder series continues on Monday night in Oklahoma City, with Game 2 of the first-round matchup airing locally on TXA 21 and nationally on TNT at 8:30 p.m. CT.
The Mavs-Thunder first-round series schedule is as follows:
Game 2: Mavericks at Thunder; Monday April 30 at 8:30 p.m. CT on TNT/TXA 21
Game 3: Thunder at Mavericks; Thursday May 3 at 8:30 p.m. CT on TNT/TXA 21
Game 4: Thunder at Mavericks; Saturday May 5 at 6:30 p.m. CT on TNT/TXA 21
Game 5: Mavericks at Thunder; Monday May 7 TBA
Game 6: Thunder at Mavericks; Thursday May 10 TBA
Game 7: Mavericks at Thunder; Saturday May 12 TBA
