OKC Thunder beat shorthanded Mavericks, 109-98

Another day, another OKC Thunder win. And, as usual, this one was closer than it should’ve been. At the end of the day, however, getting the win is all that matters.

The scoreline was much closer that anyone expected it to be coming into this game.

It had the makings of a trap game, with a visit to Cleveland being next on the OKC Thunder’s schedule. The Mavericks were playing without the services of Deron Williams, Dirk Nowitzki, JJ Barea, and Wesley Matthews.

The game started sloppy and quick, with zero field goals being made by either team for the first 2:13. And the first field goal was due to defensive goaltending. Russell Westbrook, being the 6’3 cyborg he is, scored the Thunder’s first 9 points and had 5 rebounds in the first quarter alone.

The Thunder, however, struggled mightily in the first. They had three turnovers in the first 92 seconds of the game, and 8 by the end of the first quarter.

To make matters worse, Enes Kanter left the game with 7:34 to go in the second. He punched a chair during the timeout due to frustration, it seems.

Related Content: Enes Kanter fractures arm – the domino effect of one punch

Kanter did, in fact, not return to the game. Thunder head coach Billy Donovan, after the game, said it was a forearm fracture. The severity of the injury could possibly sideline Enes for two months.

This is a significant blow to the Thunder, as they lose their sixth man and their third best PPG scorer. Surely this means OKC will be handling the trade deadline much more differently than initially planned.

Putting that aside, Dallas managed to enter halftime leading by 2 on a buzzer-beater three by Dorian Finney-Smith. The Mavs shot 9-16 from 3, which helped them enter the half with said lead. The perimeter defense was just not there for Oklahoma City. It was as if they were daring the Mavericks to shoot at times.

Related: Is Westbrook All-Star snub worst in history?

More from Thunderous Intentions

• Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

But as we all know too well, basketball is a game of four quarters as much as it is a game of two halves.

The Thunder’s perimeter eventually tightened up, and the Mavericks could only drain two treys in the second half. They decisively won the third quarter 34-18, and were heading into the fourth leading by 14. *sighs of relief*

You thought this game was over by this point, didn’t you?

Well, NOPE!

The Mavs promptly made a 13-3 run in the first four minutes of the fourth, and found themselves within 4 with eight minutes to go.

Nonetheless, a man by the name of Russell Westbrook happens to step up to the occasion and scores 17 out of OKC’s last 19. Wasn’t expecting that. *sarcasm*

Even though he didn’t get a triple-double like he usually does, Westbrook had a pretty alright game, scoring 45 points on 16-29 shooting and grabbing 8 rebounds. You know, the usual.

Obviously, being the living highlight reel he is, the Brodie left us with this.

This game will go down as one of the few games in which Roberson’s man goes off, as Harrison Barnes scored 31 points on 13-26 FG.

Hats off to you, Harrison.

With all that being said, in spite of the Mavericks’ best effort, the Oklahoma City Thunder grab their third straight win by a score of 109-98 and move to 28-19 on the season and remain sixth in the Western Conference.

Must Read: Thunder player grades for first half of season

They next face the Cavs on Sunday, January the 29th, in Cleveland…….. (another road game against a playoff team, yay!).