WCF- Mavs vs OKC: Game 4

After grabbing a victory in Oklahoma City Arena in Game 3, the Mavs entered their opposing team's arena again looking for another win to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Dallas did just that after making a historic comeback, overcoming a 15-point deficit in the final minutes of the fourth to send it into OT and eventually win it, 112-105.

Much like the Mavs in Game 3, the Thunder were off to a quick start, quickly sparking a 10-2 run leading to an 18-8 advantage. OKC made their first 9 baskets as their lead capped off at 12 points before Dallas came back to within 9 to end the quarter down 31-22.

In the second quarter, the Mavs desperately turned to Nowitzki and Terry as they slowly brought their team back into the game, while Durant and Westbrook continued to score basket after basket. Dallas managed to climb to within 3 points before ending the second down 59-54.

In the first half, Durant and Westbrook combined to scored 26 points while Nowitzki led the Mavs after hitting 6 of 7 from the field as well as going 9 for 9 from the line. The Mavs committed 11 turnovers which converted to 15 points for OKC. The thunder had a 19-11 rebounding edge including 9 offensive rebounds. The thunder outshot the Mavs as well, 58.3% to 54.8%.

Nowitzki continued to put the ball in the basket early in the third quarter until Durant took a trip to the foul line, followed by a 3-pointer and a technical on Chandler for an elbow to Perkin's face. Dallas then trailed by double digits again but continued to fight back. They took advantage of the Thunder's 8 turnovers while Terry took charge of their offense, scoring 9 in the quarter to bring Dallas within 2 before ending the quarter down 81-77.

Dallas' effective offense seemed to come to a halt in the fourth quarter as the Thunder opened up an 88-79 lead. The Mavs attempted a comeback until Haywood received a flagrant foul after giving Durant a hard hit as he tried to score. OKC continued to get offensive rebounds while Dallas was desperately looking for stops. Durant hit a 3-pointer to put his team up 99-84 with just 5:04 remaining, for what was thought to be a clinch on the victory. Nowitzki then made it an 8-point game, 99-91 with just 3:14 remaining, and continued to lead the Mavs on a 17-2 run as he scored 12 points to tie the game at 101 with 6.4 seconds left. Durant had one last shot at winning the game as he threw up a long 3-point shot but was blocked by Marion. The Mavs failed to tip in the ball with .7 seconds on the clock, sending it into overtime.

Both teams battled it out throughout OT as they tied it up at 105 until Kidd hit a 3-pointer to put the Mavs up by 3 with just 40.3 seconds to go. Westbrook missed a crucial shot followed by trips to the free throw line from Kidd and Terry to finish the game off with a historic comeback.

Dirk finished the night after an outstanding performance with 40 points. Kidd had 17 points on 3 of 6 from 3-point range as well as 7 assists. Terry added 20 points off the bench to make it three Mavs in double figures.

For the Thunder, Durant led with a double-double with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Ibaka also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Westbrook had 19 points and Sefolosha and Collison both had 12 a piece to make it five players in double figures.

The Thunder had a 55-33 rebounding edge with 20 offensive rebounds which led to a 24-12 edge in second-chance points. The Thunder had 26 turnovers which led to 26 Dallas points, while the Mavs had 13 turnovers which led to just 13 Thunder points. OKC also outshot the Mavs, 46.7% to 43.2% and outscored them in the paint, 54-36.

The teams will now travel to Dallas for Game 5 Wednesday night where the Mavs have a chance to finish the series up, 4-1, and advance to the NBA Finals.

**Game 5 will air on ESPN, Wednesday May 25th at 9pm ET.