Durant, Thunder Hold Off Shorthanded Mavericks

Dallas played without Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler in a 99-95 OKC victory.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:08 pm

By: News On 6

Durant, Thunder Hold Off Shorthanded Mavericks

Originally Published: Jan 6, 2011 9:57 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

DALLAS – Even though the Mavs were shorthanded, redemption was sweet for the Thunder on Thursday.

OKC avenged a rough loss from two weeks ago with a 99-95 victory against the Mavericks Thursday night in Dallas.

Forwards Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler didn’t play for the Mavericks due to knee injuries.

Nowitzki’s injury stems from the previous matchup between the two teams on Dec. 27. With Nowitzki out and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle absent due to surgery, the Thunder had the Mavs on the ropes but eventually gave up a 103-93 victory.

But the Thunder avenged the loss Thursday thanks in large part to 28 points from Kevin Durant. Jeff Green added 16 points and nine boards, while Russell Westbrook had 15 points and nine assists.

Dallas led the entire first half and up until the 8:42 mark of the third quarter when a jumper from Thabo Sefolosha gave the Thunder their first lead at 60-59.

The bucket was part of a 9-0 run from OKC that gave them the only lead change in the game and kept them in front for good.

Dallas kept it interesting at the end as three 3-pointers from DeShawn Stevenson in the final 38 seconds made the final margin of victory look closer than the game actually was.

The Thunder snapped a brief two-game losing streak to improve to 24-13 on the season, pulling them to within a half-game of Utah in the Northwest Division.

Despite the obvious height disadvantage, Oklahoma City managed to outscore the Mavs in the paint, thanks in large part to the penetration into the lane from Westbrook.

OKC will return home for the first time in four games to face the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.