MyDallasMavs: Thunder Take Advantage of Injured Mavs

The Mavericks faced Durant and the Thunder Thursday night once again without Dirk or Caron. When Dirk will return is not yet carved in stone. Caron Butler is out for the season due to his torn patellar tendon.

Mavs began the game up by 10, making 8 of their first 10 shots. Marion had the first 10 of 12 points.

The Mavericks were up 55-51 at the half, when Marion had 21 points. In the first half Dallas went 24 for 41.

OKC began the third quarter with an 11-4 run, up 62-59.

Heading into the fourth, OKC was up 73-70. Durant hit a 3-pointer extending the lead to 78-71 continued by a steal later on to make it 89-78. Although Deshawn Stevenson hit three consecutive 3-pointers, the Mavs were unable to get within four points the rest of the way.

The Thunder left the AAC with a 99-95 win over the Mavs.

Marion lead the team with a season high 25 points. Stevenson rallied 14 points including four key 3-pointers. Chandler added another double-double to his season scoring 14 points 18 rebounds. JET became hot towards the end of the game rallying 19 points. JJ Barea gathered 14 points in just 22 minutes. Sadly, Kidd was an awful 0-7 from the field and 0-4 from downtown but managed to rack up 7 assists and 10 rebounds.

For the Thunder, the leading scorers were Durant: 28 points, Green: 16, Westbrook: 15, and Ibaka: 13.

The Mavericks started the game with a remarkable start but lost the lead towards the end where turnovers became a problem.

Next the Mavericks face the Orlando Magic. With or without Dirk this is going to be a tough game. They have to work on making less turnovers and making stops.