Mavs Face Elimination Tonight
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OKLAHOMA CITY (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — With the ebb and flow to the NBA playoffs, momentum can quickly shift.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have it.
OKC leads the Dallas Mavericks 3-1, and will try to advance with a win at home Monday night. The series has included plenty of pushing and jawing, technical fouls and even a rare ejection for Kevin Durant. The teams are about a dead heat in non-basketball activity, but Oklahoma City has dominated most of the action that relates to the scoreboard.
But with the Mavericks facing elimination, the Thunder expect a battle.
"We can't be cocky," Thunder center Steven Adams said. "We can't just rely on the fans even though we're home. Just got to come out with the right mindset and right energy, and lock in on the game plan and not get distracted by all the antics because it's probably going to happen again, all the weird stuff."
While Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are putting up big scoring numbers as usual, their shooting percentages are down. Enes Kanter, Dion Waiters and Serge Ibaka have led the way in picking up the slack.
Kanter is averaging 17.8 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 73 percent from the field. Ibaka is averaging 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 71.4 percent and Waiters is averaging 11 points on 45.5 percent shooting.
Kanter said it all goes back to Durant and Westbrook.
"When I'm out there with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, I say it every time, that I'm so much more comfortable out there because they do an amazing job," Kanter said. "They make themselves better and they make everyone else better."
Dirk Nowitzki has been carrying the Mavericks. He is averaging 19.5 points per game on 49.3 percent shooting. But an already outmanned Mavericks squad has had J.J. Barea, Deron Williams and David Lee miss time in the series due to injury, putting the load on the shoulders of the 37-year-old Nowitzki.
"We all got to enjoy it while we can," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We're seeing one of the most special athletes in sports history. And doing it an amazingly high level at really an advanced stage of his career."
The game is on TXA 21 at 7:00 p.m.
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