Dirk Nowitzki leaned back in the chair at the podium, trying to explain what went wrong for the Dallas Mavericks once they got home for the playoffs.
There was really only one way to put it after they trailed throughout in a 95-79 loss Thursday night that gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a commanding 3-0 series lead.
”We picked a bad time to put a stinker out there,” Nowitzki said.
After losing the first two games on the road by a combined four points, the defending NBA champions were Thunderstruck by Kevin Durant and young Oklahoma City.
Durant finally found his postseason shooting touch, scoring 15 of his 31 points in the first quarter.
After shooting a combined 15 for 44 in the first two games, though he did have the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds left in the series opener, the three-time NBA scoring champ made 11 of 15 shots in Game 3. Even when he missed the game’s first shot, Serge Ibaka converted a putback to put Oklahoma City ahead to stay…
Nowitzki had 17 points and Jason Kidd 12 for Dallas, which shot only 34 percent (26 of 76).
Russell Westbrook added 20 points for Oklahoma City while Ibaka had 10 points and 11 rebounds. James Harden and Derek Fisher both had 10 points.
Oklahoma City led 16-7 less than 5 minutes into Game 3 after Durant’s alley-oop pass to Ibaka for a layup. The Thunder pushed further ahead with 16-5 runs in both the second and third quarters, the later spurt clinching the game.
— Reported by the Associated Press
