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Thunder aim to even West finals against Mavs

May 23, 2011 - 2:48 PM (Sports Network) - The Oklahoma City Thunder face a virtual must-win situation tonight as they host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

The Mavs jumped out to a big lead in the pivotal Game 3 on Saturday and held off the slow-starting Thunder, 93-87, to tip things back in their favor.

Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion both posted 18 points and Jason Kidd chipped in 13 to go with eight assists, helping the Mavericks take a 2-1 series lead.

Jason Terry totaled 13 points and six assists off Dallas' bench, while Tyson Chandler pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds,

Dallas held Oklahoma City to 29 percent shooting in the first half and led by as many as 23. The Thunder mounted a comeback, but a 1-for-17 showing from three-point range sealed their fate.

"It was a great defensive effort early on. It set the tone for us," Nowitzki said. "We just played off our defense and executed well ... We had more aggression to our play."

Russell Westbrook came alive late and ended with 30 points in defeat for OKC. Kevin Durant had 24 points on 7-for-22 shooting along with 12 rebounds, but the Thunder reserves netted 16 just two days after outscoring Dallas' vaunted bench, 50-29.

"[The Mavs] came out and did a great job with their defensive pressure. They took us out of our sets and trapped the basketball, just got us playing on our heels," Thunder coach Brooks said. "I give our guys a lot of credit, they made it a game in the fourth quarter."

James Harden went just 2-for-9 from the field for seven points after exploding for 23 points to spark Oklahoma City in Game 2.

"They doubled a lot more off pick-and-rolls and post-ups. They made it tough for us," Durant said. "We have to figure out ways to have a better start."

Brooks had made a tough decision to bench a struggling Westbrook in the fourth quarter of Game 2, and the Thunder backups came through in a 106-100 victory to tie the series. The OKC mentor stayed with Westbrook on Saturday, and the All-Star point guard responded with 14 points in the final quarter but it wasn't enough.

Westbrook and the Thunder obviously aren't happy about swiping home-court advantage only to hand it right back 48 hours later.

"You lose a home game, you have to be angry," Westbrook said Sunday. "You've got to take care of home court."

"If you think about it, this [Game 4] is a must-win at the end of the day," Thunder sharpshooter Daequan Cook added. "If we win tomorrow, it's a three- game series. Two of the three games are in Dallas, so you want to take advantage of this opportunity to win at home."

Dallas, on the other hand, wants to get Nowitzki back in the groove. The former MVP was a perfect 24-of-24 from the free throw line en route to 48 points in Game 1 but was down to just three free throws and the 18 points in Game 3, largely due to the physical defense of Oklahoma City reserve forward Nick Collison.

"They were physical. Trying to drive, there was really not much being called for me," Nowitzki said when describing his struggles at practice Sunday. "I think I adjusted a little bit and had to shoot it off the dribble and not get all the way to the basket."

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle wasn't happy with the Thunder's physical play against Nowitzki saying "the line may be crossed at times" but has backed off that a bit and indicated he needs to put Dirk in better positions to succeed against Collison.

"[Collison's] a hell of a player and he's making a hell of an effort, and we've got to make some adjustments to make it tougher for him," Carlisle said.

The Mavs coach also wants to avoid a similar letdown that plagued the team in Game 2.

"We've got to play with a certain edge," Carlisle explained. "We didn't do that at home [in Game 2]. We were able to recapture it in Game 3, and now we've got to keep it with us going forward. It's hard with the emotional ebbs and flows of a series. It's hard to win and not have a letdown."

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.

Game 5 of the series shifts back to Dallas on Wednesday.