Mavs Make History In Game 2 Win Over Thunder
By: Josh Clark
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OKLAHOMA CITY (105.3 The Fan) - The Dallas Mavericks did the improbable Monday night in Oklahoma City.
On TNT's Inside The NBA, Charles Barkley said Dallas had a zero percent chance of winning game two.
Let's face it, we all thought the same thing. How could we not after the Mavericks got whacked on Saturday night by 38 points?
But once again, we were shown just why we should never discredit the genius that is Rick Carlisle.
Dallas had no business winning last night. They had all the excuses in the world to lay another egg. No Chandler Parsons, David Lee or J.J. Barea. Devin Harris is playing with a thumb injury. Deron Williams is still bothered by a sports hernia injury that forced him to miss eight straight games in the last month of the regular season. It was Williams, however, that gutted out 26 minutes in the first three quarters before getting shut down for the remainder of the game. Williams got off to a hot start, making his first four shots, three of them being three-pointers. And the guy that put the Mavs on his back the rest of the way was Raymond Felton. Felton looks like he's still managing a groin strain he suffered late in the season, but he became the hero of the night. The 6' 1" guard led the team in rebounds (10) and points (21).
Monday night's win marked the sixth time this season that Dallas has won a game after losing the game before by 20 or more points.
According to Elias Sports, The Mavs became the first team since 1995 (Celtics) to win game two of a series after losing game one by 35 or more points.
Dallas also became the biggest underdog to win a playoff game in the last 20 seasons according to ESPN.
And Kevin Durant put himself in the record books with one of the worst playoff shooting performances of all-time by going 7-33 from the field, although much of Durant's struggles can be credited to Mavs shooting guard Wesley Matthew's hard nosed defense.
It's just one game, and the Mavericks remain completely out-manned. But all it takes is one win for a team to gain some confidence. The series shifts back to Dallas on Thursday night, where the Mavs will be looking to make more history out of the Thunder.
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