Final
Westbrook, Durant carry Thunder past Mavs
Nov 7, 2013 - 7:35 AM Oklahoma City, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - Russell Westbrook exploded on a break, drove into the paint and threw down a thunderous right-handed dunk.He sure appears to be in midseason form.
Westbrook had 22 points and Kevin Durant added 23 points and 10 assists in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 107-93 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Westbrook tore the meniscus in his right knee in Game 2 of the Thunder's first round playoff series with Houston a year ago. He underwent a pair of surgeries and was expected to miss the first 4-to-6 weeks of the regular season, but team doctors cleared him to play prior to Sunday.
Serge Ibaka registered 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 3-1 on the year.
"We did a lot of things we were hoping to accomplish tonight, make some shots was one," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "And I thought the defense was good throughout the game against a very good offensive team."
Monta Ellis netted 20 points to lead Dallas. Shawn Marion poured in 17 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 16 in defeat.
An eight-point OKC lead turned into a healthy 15-point cushion following a 9-2 sprint in the third. Steven Adams had four points during the flurry, including a layup to cap it and make it 80-65 late in the third.
OKC took an 85-75 spread into the fourth.
Westbrook's slam concluded a quick 7-0 spurt, which gave the Thunder a 97-80 margin with 7:07 left and the hosts cruised the rest of the way.
The Thunder led 33-31 after a quarter of play and 57-51 at the break.
"The combination of untimely turnovers that turned into points and other problems we had did us in," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "They're a good team and to win this game in this atmosphere you really have to be right and it just wasn't there for us tonight."
Game Notes
Oklahoma City turned the ball over 24 times, while Dallas tallied 21 giveaways ... Jae Crowder had 17 points off the bench for the Mavericks ... OKC held a 54-42 points in the paint advantage.
Nov 7 12:07 AM- DALLAS: 75
OKLAHOMA CITY: 85
End of 3rd
Nov 6 11:29 PM - DALLAS: 51
OKLAHOMA CITY: 57
Halftime
Nov 6 10:40 PM - DALLAS: 31
OKLAHOMA CITY: 33
End of 1st
Nov 6 10:08 PM - DALLAS: 0
OKLAHOMA CITY: 0
1st Quarter - 11:41
Nov 6 9:42 PM
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