Thunder Take Care Of Business In Dallas

After losing game two in shocking fashion, people began to gossip about whether or not the Thunder had it in them to beat the Dallas Mavericks, let alone compete for an NBA Championship. People began saying that the Mavs were getting into the Thunder stars' heads after the whole incident with Russell Westbrook and Cameron Payne's pre-game dance routine. Everyone also began to talk about how defensive players like Salah Mejri and Wesley Matthews were getting into Durant's head and how he just might not be as great as everyone thought he was before his injury when he won his first MVP. By Game 3 of the First Round Series between the Mavericks and the Thunder, the Oklahoma City Stars were pretty much pissed by all the talk, and were just ready to dominate in the next game, knowing that they pretty much needed at least one win in Dallas to advance to the next round. Durant, especially, was determined to make a mark on this game after all the talk surrounding his poor play in Game 2. The Thunder were on a mission, a mission that they certainly accomplished.
Game 3 started electric, as the home fans from Dallas were absolutely ecstatic from their team's win on the road in Game 2. They all were ready to see another strong performance from their team, and actually had real hopes of advancing to the next round. Unfortunately for them, their team was up against a team with two of the top five players in the league, and more importantly, a team that was fired up, and ready to get payback for their devastating defeat in Game 2. The Thunder opened up strong, winning the first quarter 27-21. More importantly, however, for the Thunder, Durant was making his shots, and role players such as Dion Waiters and Enes Kanter were playing incredibly, providing a much needed spark off the bench. The second quarter did not go much better for the home fans, as the Thunder once again outscored the home team Mavericks, this time by four, taking a ten-point 58-48 lead going into the half. As if the first half was not bad enough for the Mavericks, the Thunder outscored the Mavs by nine points in the third taking a 19-point lead into the final quarter. In the last quarter, the home fans hoped for an incredible comeback from their team. However, that did not happen. The Thunder played even better than they did in the previous quarters, outscoring the Mavs by ten points and winning the game 131-102. Most notable was Durant's performance in this game which was much better than his Game 2 mishap. He scored 34 points on 11-25 shooting, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists giving the Thunder back home-court advantage.
Game 4 was a bit more competitive, but not much. For the fifth straight quarter in Dallas, the Thunder outscored the home team Mavericks, this time by 15 points 33-18 with some nice play by practically all of Oklahoma City's starters. In the second quarter, Dallas fought back and finally won a quarter at home 30-24, but they still went into the half trailing by nine. The third quarter was much more competitive, but the Thunder still won outscoring the Mavericks 31-32 to take a 89-79 lead into the final twelve minutes to play. In the fourth quarter, the Mavs fought hard, but they were heavily out-manned and the Thunder once again won the quarter by one point 30-29 winning the game overall 119-108. The Thunder now have a 3-1 series lead and can close tomorrow at home to advance to the Western Conference semi-finals against the San Antonio Spurs who advanced earlier today after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies.