Post Up: Thunder Survive

by Peter Walsh / @goinginsquad

Thunder 111 (22-6), Mavs 105 (12-17) F/OT

Kevin Durant dropped 40 and Russell Westbrook (16 points, 10 dimes) went HAM late to lead the Thunder to an overtime victory over the Mavericks. Dallas led for much of the game behind Darren Collison’s 32 points (4-4 from three), but Oklahoma City to came back late in the fourth. The Mavs scored 36 points in the third and had taken the crowd out of the game but the Thunder came around defensively in the fourth and only allowed 17 points. With Westbrook struggling, the Mavs made the fatal flaw of allowing the talented point guard to make a big play to bring him, and the crowd back into the game.

Dallas was up 93-87 with just over four minutes left in the game when Dirk Nowitzki (9 points) bumped into O.J. Mayo (4 points) causing Mayo to lose the ball. Westbrook picked it up, flew down the court and found Durant for a dunk that sparked a 9-2 run which put the Thunder ahead. OKC looked like they were going to finish the comeback and get the win up 98-95 with 2.2 seconds left when Darren Collison hit an improbable three (seriously, I can’t even do it justice with an explanation, just watch below) at the buzzer to force overtime. That was the last gasp for the Mavs, though, as Westbrook scored six straight points in the extra session to seal the victory for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka scored 19, grabbed 17 boards and blocked 5 shots.

 

 

Clippers 106 (23-6), Celtics 77 (14-14)

The Clippers ran a clinic last night against the visiting Celtics en route to a 29-point win and their 15th straight victory. Los Angeles led wire-to-wire, were up by as many as 32, outscored the C’s 42-26 in the paint and won the turnover battle 18-8–it was nothing short of an absolute ass-kicking. Chris Paul dropped 11 dimes, Matt Barnes tied a season-high with 21 off the bench, Jamal Crawford dropped 17, Blake Griffin scored 15 and Caron Butler scored 14. The Clippers stormed out of the gate, outscoring the C’s 24-9 but Boston did cut it four in the second with three straight three’s. The Clips’ reserves then took the floor and built the lead back to double-digits and the rout was on. KG led Boston with 16 points.