This Is Why We Play: We Got A Series Now

 

 

Confetti reigned down at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Dallas Mavericks walked around in disbelief, some waiving their hands in the air in protest. Just 7 seconds earlier, the Mavericks led by 1, when Raymond Felton went to the free throw line. A 79% shooter and usually clutch at the line in these moments, missed both of them, Kevin Durant rebounded, and the Thunder were flying towards their basket looking for the win.

 

Those seven seconds seemed like an eternity. Russell Westbrook seemed to have the best look as he had a point blank shot attempt, but instead dished it off to Durant, who struggled throughout. Justin Anderson, the rookie freak of an athlete that he is, got a piece of the attempt. Then Westbrook missed, leaving Steven Adams with the weak side rebound tip in. Bucket is good. Thunder fans go wild. Mavericks blow Game 2, and now must find a way to recover heading back to Dallas, down 2-0.

 

Wait just one second. Upon further ruling…..

 

 

Shot no good. Mavericks win 85-84 in a gutty effort, tying this series at 1-1, heading back to Dallas. The Mavericks shot just 42%, were 5-19 from long distance (26%), and were out-rebounded 54-45, including 19-11 on the offensive glass. Think that’s bad? They were also without Chandler Parsons, J.J. Barea, David Lee, with Deron Williams sitting out most of the second half as well. All of that being said, the Mavericks found a way to get a massive victory, stealing home-court advantage away from OKC, and making it a best of 5 series moving forward.

 

“I’m very proud of our guys and the way they responded after one of the most disappointing games in franchise history,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s a group with a lot of pride, and obviously, a lot of resilience.”

 

This is why, despite how a series may look on paper, we still play the games. People forget, that if you take away the game the Mavericks rested their starters, Dallas played OKC tough in every match-up this season, so I can’t say I’m that surprised. I don’t expect Durant to struggle like that again, as he made only 7 shots on 33 attempts, including 2-11 from downtown.

 

“It was a bad shooting night for me,” Durant said. “It’s part of it. I wish it didn’t happen tonight, but it’s a part of it. I got some great looks all night and I just didn’t knock them down. It was just one of those nights.”

 

Perhaps it was a bad shooting night, or maybe it was the defensive efforts by Justin Anderson and Wesley Matthews. I, myself, think it’s a mix of both. The athletic ability of Anderson, combined with the heart of Matthews was enough to keep Durant off of his game, allowing the Mavericks the opportunity to steal one in Oklahoma City.

 

“Not one individual can slow somebody like that down,” Matthews said. “He’s arguably the best scorer in the league. My team was great behind me, and he was probably missing some shots, some good looks. My offense wasn’t there, but I was going to be damned if I was going to let that lead to an L for us.”

 

Could it also be that the Mavericks were just downright embarrassed about their performance in Game 1? Maybe they felt that the Thunder just flat out didn’t respect them. Look no further than before tip-off, when Charlie Villanueva and Justin Anderson seemed like they had enough of the dancing Cameron Payne enjoying his pre-game routine with Russell Westbrook:

 

 

It clearly rattled the Thunder, especially Westbrook and Durant, who seemed annoyed when questioned about it after the game:

 

“That’s fake s—,” Durant told reporters.

 

Westbrook agreed as well.

 

“That’s for the guys that don’t play. You gotta do something,” Westbrook said.

 

While Charlie Villanueva didn’t factor at all into last night’s game, the same can’t be said for the other “culprit”, Justin Anderson. If I do recall, he was the one who made the sweet little denial on the potential game winning layup by Durant.

 

What say you now, Russell?

 

You are the better team on paper, but this is why we play.

 

The series starts right now.