Here’s the thing about losing close games, like the kind of games the Mavericks got in Game 1 and Game 2 of this series: you don’t get them back. The points don’t carry over.
The 7th-seeded Mavericks came far closer to beating Oklahoma City on their home floor -- twice -- than anybody expected they would, but they still came into Thursday night’s game down 2-0, and needed a strong performance to stay in the series.
Instead, the defending champs completely rolled over in front of their hometown fans, getting blown out and losing 95-79. It wasn’t that close.
Shawn Marion, who did a good job against Kevin Durant in Games 1 and 2, looked completely exhausted in Game 3, and Durant torched the Mavericks for 31 points on 11-15 shooting while Marion was only able to muster six points on 1-8 shooting from the field.
The news wasn’t much better for the rest of the Mavericks. Derek Fisher, who finished with 10 points, outscored all but 3 Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki shot 6-15 from the field, and even missed three of his eight free throw attempts.
Essentially, this was the game where the Thunder lived up to their billing as the odds-on favorites to win the Western Conference, and the Mavericks looked like an aging title contender who gave up Tyson Chandler for a shot at getting Deron Williams or Dwight Howard next year.
Mavericks fans should probably cherish their memories of the 2011 Playoffs right about now, because Dallas’ chances of repeating are about as slim as it gets right now.
