OKC Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks Game Grades
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Dallas Mavericks last night 112-91 at home to improve to 36-12 on the year.
This was the third time this season that the Thunder beat the Mavericks. The first two times, OKC needed overtime to do so each time.
The Thunder shot 51 percent through three quarters and led by 25 then sat their starters for the entire fourth.
Dallas shot just 41.4 percent from the field for the game and made 3-of-16 threes.
The Thunder will be off tonight and then will host the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night for their next game.
Here are the Game Grades:
Kevin Durant – 28 minutes, 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists – B+
Durant ends his streak of 23 straight games with scoring at least 20 points this season. He didn’t need to play a lot which is probably a good thing since he entered the game with a rib contusion. He started and looked himself for the most part but did appear a little flat at times elevating. It didn’t affect his production though.
Russell Westbrook – 29 minutes, 24 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds – A
Westbrook was under control and calculating as he attacked the Dallas defense with relative ease. The pull-up jumper was there and he was splitting the pick-and-roll and penetrating to the rack over and over again. This was one of the better Westbrook games this season and OKC is always better when he plays like this, without forcing anything.
Serge Ibaka – 27 minutes, 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block – B
Ibaka shot well and even hit a three in the game. He seems to be trying to drive to the rim more lately which is the next step in expanding his game. It’s been working pretty well and resulting in more free throw attempts too.
Kevin Martin – 22 minutes, 17 points, 1 assist, 2 steals – A
Martin was very aggressive looking for his shot. He was knocking down threes as he made 3-of-5 and that opened up the rest of his game. He caught a nice alley-oop in transition from Westbrook and made a nice feed in the second half to Nick Collison in a half court set.
Kendrick Perkins – 22 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists – A-
You can’t deny anymore that Perkins has been playing very well of late. He shot well again last night making 2-of-3 field goals. He didn’t commit any turnovers and was a force on the defensive end.
Thabo Sefolosha – 25 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals – B
Sefolosha was fantastic defensively as always. On offense, he was really looking for his shot but went just 1-for-6 from downtown. It didn’t matter as he still made other things happen.
Nick Collison – 15 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists – B+
Collison was basically a monster last night. He never makes mistakes and it’s hard to not think of what he does as absolutely perfect.
Reggie Jackson – 21 minutes, 8 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds – A+
This was Jackson’s best game of the year by far. He looked very comfortable and decisive running the offense. He made 2-of-5 threes and the six dimes is a season-high. Jackson helped spearhead a great effort overall by the Thunder bench.
Hasheem Thabeet – 11 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks – A+
This was also one of Thabeet’s best performances of the year. When he checked in, he immediately started grabbing rebounds. Then he started scoring including a nice little midrange jumper that looked very comfortable for him. The three blocks were the icing on the cake.
DeAndre Liggins – 12 minutes, 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist – A
One of the underrated things that Liggins has been doing a great job of lately has been passing. He’s always moving the ball around quickly and had a great dime to Thabeet inside for a dunk last night.
Perry Jones, III – 10 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound – D
Jones missed all four of his shots including getting blocked on a dunk attempt. He was about the only Thunder player who didn’t have it going.
Eric Maynor – 9 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound – C
Maynor got into the game for the first time in awhile. He knocked down a deep three but that was about it.
Daniel Orton – 8 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist – B
We haven’t seen Orton in awhile either. He had two offensive boards and looked pretty solid out there running the floor and setting screens. He looks like he could definitely have a future with this team sometime.