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Strong fourth quarter gets Mavs past Thunder

Nov 25, 2010 - 7:28 AM Oklahoma City, OK (Sports Network) - Dirk Nowitzki poured in 34 points and the Dallas Mavericks shut down the Oklahoma City Thunder in the fourth quarter to pull out a 111-103 decision.

Tyson Chandler tallied 17 points and 18 rebounds, and Caron Butler chipped in 15 points for Dallas, which won the fourth quarter, 36-22, en route to a third straight win.

"The thing I like about this team, this is the tightest-knit team that we've had since I've been here," said Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle. "These guys are really close, they never quit on a game, they never quit on a situation. They keep encouraging each other. We just look for good things to happen."

Kevin Durant finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Russell Westbrook recorded 13 points and 10 helpers in the loss.

The Thunder led 81-75 at the conclusion of the third stanza and a Durant putback had their margin at 90-83 with 7:41 remaining in regulation.

Nowitzki answered with consecutive three-pointers, getting fouled on the second one and making the free throw to tie the game at 90.

"There are some times you can't do much [about] what he does," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said of Nowitzki. "He's one of the best shot-makers in the history of the game. The way he does things, he's hard to defend."

Jason Terry followed with another deep make the next time down for Dallas' first lead of the second half, and the visitors put the game away with 12-0 stretch a little later.

Jason Kidd started the run with a trifecta for a 98-93 lead with 4 1/2 minutes on the clock, and Nowitzki's fadeaway ended it for an insurmountable 107-93 cushion with 1:51 showing.

A closely contested first frame ended with the Thunder clinging to a 27-24 edge.

Jeff Green scored the final five points on a 10-point Oklahoma City run in the second, pushing the margin to 43-34 near the midway point. Dallas reduced the deficit to 56-55 by halftime.

Game Notes

Terry finished with 10 points for the Mavs, who received eight points and 12 assists from Kidd...Green tallied 17 points for the Thunder, who were outrebounded, 49-36...Dallas made 30-of-34 from the foul line, while Oklahoma City made an uncharacteristic 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the stripe.