Mavericks at Thunder
Kevin Durant keeps scoring the points and the Oklahoma City Thunder keep
racking up victories. Durant looks for his 25th consecutive 20-point
outing and Oklahoma City seeks its 17th win in the past 21 games when it
hosts the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
Durant kept his streak going with 30 points in Tuesday's 101-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves — a contest in which he scored 12 consecutive Oklahoma City points late in the fourth quarter. "I've got to get it going there in the first three quarters," Durant said afterward. "Can't just come out and try to save the game and make shots in the fourth. I've got to get it going early." Dallas lost 110-107 in overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday and the contest against the Thunder is the opener of a three-game trip that includes visits to San Antonio and Chicago. "An extremely difficult schedule, there's no doubt about that," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "This kind of stretch challenges a group."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (22-17): Dallas led by as many 17 points in the contest against Cleveland and that fact greatly frustrated shooting guard Wesley Matthews. "We can't continue to lose games like this to good teams because we're going to have to beat good teams," Matthews told reporters. "We should have won it and we didn't. Now we have to use that frustration and aggression to go get this win in OKC." The play of small forward Chandler Parsons was a bright spot — a season-best 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting — as he continues to move toward full strength after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (27-12): Even with the late charge, Durant was 11-of-25 shooting against Minnesota but coach Billy Donovan was fine with how things shook out despite the lack of efficiency. "I think the one thing about him is he always stays engaged," Donovan told reporters. "He's got a lot of confidence. He's put a lot of time in; he's worked very hard. So in those moments, he's really, really prepared to step up regardless of what's happened with the shot before." Point guard Russell Westbrook had 22 points and 11 assists against Minnesota for his second straight double-double and he has scored 20 or more points in 10 of the past 12 games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder posted a 117-114 victory Nov. 22 after the Mavericks won five of the previous six meetings.
2. Oklahoma City C Enes Kanter had 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting against Minnesota after failing to reach double digits in four of the previous six games.
3. Dallas C Zaza Pachulia had 14 points and 12 rebounds against Cleveland for his 20th double-double of the season.