Thunder VS Mavericks (Game 2)

Series Tied 1-1

The Mavericks went against all odd and now they hold the home court advantage going into the rest of the series. But how did the Mavs even pull this off? How were they able to win against the Oklahoma City Thunder?

The Mavericks played really great defense. Something that they have not done much this season. I really have to credit Mavs head coach, Rick Carlisle, for making the defensive changes needed in game 2. First, he had Wesley Matthews really push Durant out of the paint. Durant didn't get any open lanes. Nest, almost every shot was contested. Durant and Westbrook alone shot 44 contested shots. They made just 11 of them. The Mavs made sure that there weren't any open shots. And third, the big made sure that the post catches were farther away from the basket. They got positioning and held it making the posts force up tough shots. They also made sure Dirk didn't play at the center position because they were destroyed in the paint last game. You can take a look at OKC's shot chart below to see just how bad their shooting was.

Thunder - Shot Chart - www.nba.com/stats

The Mavs also changed a lot on offense. As I had pointed out from game 1, the Mavericks were really lacking in guard play. While J.J. Barea was out of this game, Deron Williams and Raymond Felton combined for a total of 34 points. This was a big improvement from game 1. Not only that, but Felton was amazing. The short guard had 11 rebounds and 21 points himself. He hit some big baskets down the stretch to put his team in the spot to win.

While Wesley Matthews struggled from the floor, he was very effective on defense. His overall hustle really set a great tone as he had a big steal towards the end of the game. While he shot 0-7 from 3, his impact couldn't have been greater.

Durant and Westbrook had a combined 11 turnovers. They had a rough time and the other players are going to have to help them out. It would really help if the team had D.J. Augustine right now.