Thunder Rally Falls Short in Game 3

Dallas led from start to finish in a 93-87 victory on Saturday night.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:25 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: May 21, 2011 10:56 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – OKC simply dug itself far too big of a hole to recover from.

Despite a spirited rally in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City lost a 93-87 decision to Dallas on Saturday night in Game 3.

The Mavericks now lead the series two games to one.

OKC was down as many as 22 points multiple times, including as late as the third quarter.

But the Thunder scratched their way all the way back into it, starting with the end of the third quarter.

A couple of buckets from Kevin Durant helped cut the lead to 70-56 to finish the third.

The Thunder got the lead all the way down to six points several times, including the final margin. A dunk from Nick Collison with 3:19 to play made the score 84-78.

But Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the veteran Mavs were simply too clutch in crunch time.

Nowitzki had 10 in the fourth quarter as part of the Mavericks’ final 18 points in the game.

Oklahoma City’s dreadful shooting throughout most of the game was simply too much to overcome.

The Thunder came close to some NBA records, hitting their first 3-pointer of the game with less than a minute to play.

They were 1-of-17 from beyond the arc on the night. OKC shot 36 percent as a whole.

The majority of the Thunder players had a rough night offensively. After averaging nearly 104 points per game in the playoffs, Oklahoma City put up its second-lowest point total of the postseason.

Russell Westbrook led all scorers with 30 points, but once again had more turnovers (six) than assists (four).

Kevin Durant had 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. No other OKC player scored in double digits.

Dirk Nowitzki, who started off the series on fire, was held to 18 points, but that was all it took.

OKC will host a crucial Game 4 on Monday night to try to even up the series. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.