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Mavs and Thunder kick off West finals in Big D

May 17, 2011 - 2:33 PM (Sports Network) - When it comes to sports, Texas and Oklahoma aren't exactly the friendliest neighbors. Most of the animosity stems from the "Red River Rivalry," the annual college football game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners that is one of the most storied rivalries in all of American sports.

For the next week or two, that will be trumped by a relatively new pairing creating the animus and hostility, as the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder battle for a berth in the NBA Finals, staring Tuesday in Big D.

The well-rested Mavs, the third seed in the Western Conference, have been kicking back since May 8 when they finished off a four-game sweep of the two- time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Jason Terry and the Mavericks as a whole tied NBA postseason records for three-pointers in the clincher, a 122-86 rout. Despite playing just 25 minutes off the bench, Terry made nine three-pointers to tie an individual postseason record and scored 32 for the Mavs.

"We're halfway to where we want to be," said Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle, whose team went 20-for-32 from beyond the arc to tie the team record for three-pointers made in a playoff game.

Oklahoma City, the No. 4 seed, had a much tougher time with Memphis, needing all seven games to dispose of the surprising Grizzlies.

Kevin Durant scored 39 points on Sunday and Russell Westbrook had a triple- double, leading the Thunder to a 105-90 victory over the Grizzlies in Game 7.

After scoring just 11 points in last Friday's Game 6 loss, Durant went to the basket early and often in this one to help the franchise reach the conference finals for the first time since 1996, when the then-Seattle SuperSonics beat Utah in seven games before losing to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.

"I just attacked," said Durant. "I was so upset with myself for letting my guys down by not playing my game (on Friday). I wasn't aggressive at all. But I stayed with it. I was just positive and confident and kept the faith in the things that got me here."

Dallas, which has won a franchise record six straight postseason games, clearly wants to slow things down and control the tempo in order to keep Durant and Westbrook bottled up in the half-court set. Veteran point guard Jason Kidd certainly has the savvy and skill to milk the shot clock and cut down possessions.

The Thunder, on the other hand, want to get both of their stars easy looks in transition and make things difficult for Dirk Nowitzki. Serge Ibaka figures to get in foul trouble early and often, trying to deal with Dirk's laundry list of head and shoulder fakes, making Nick Collison all the more important.

The Mavs will be coming in with nine days of rest, something that can't hurt this time of year when everyone is dealing with assorted bumps and bruises.

"You can look at it that way," Carlisle said when asked if the rest would benefit his team. "The other side of it is that our guys are certainly anxious to play. But we understood that [there was] a chance it could be an extended period of time, and we're ready to deal with that. It is what it is."

Inexperience could also be costly for the Thunder, who have little exposure playing on such a stage. With the exception of Kendrick Perkins, Nazr Mohammed and the rarely used Nate Robinson, OKC's other players have never advanced past the first round before this season, let alone reached the conference finals.

Comparatively, the core of Mavericks have a wealth of experience at their disposal, reaching the 2006 Finals and possessing solid veteran leadership from Kidd, who reached the NBA Finals twice with the New Jersey Nets.

In fact, the series could shape up as age against experience. The young Thunder have just two players in their 30s and both are reserves, while the Mavs have seven players on the wrong side of 30.

Dallas won two of three over Oklahoma City in the regular season. Interestingly, the Mavs won both games in OKC while the Thunder took the lone contest in north Texas. Nowitzki, however, didn't play in the Thunder win.

The teams have met just twice in the postseason when OKC was based in Seattle but haven't squared off since 1987. In 1984, Dallas took a first round set while the Sonics returned the favor in '87.