For five quarters, the Mavs dominated the Thunder. Dirk and the Mavs looked like they were destined to make it to the Finals. Will they or not? We'll probably find out in the next couple of days.
Anyway, this dunk by Kevin Durant was the moment that was one of the turning points of the game that led to the series to be tied at one apiece today. The other was James Harden's big four point play at the end of the Third Quarter over Jason Terry when the Mavericks were up three points after cutting down a Thunder nine point lead.
This dunk came at an absolute mismatch when Rick Carlisle went with Peja Stojakovic on KD while giving Dirk a break. It was one of those moves where Carlisle gambled and lost big time when he went Zone. Durant immediately saw that he had Peja and blew by him. This left poor Brendan Haywood to suffer the consequences that brought not only the Thunder off their feet but knocked the socks out of the Mavericks momentum.
In addition, the Thunder also disrupted the footwork of Dirk from getting into his spots and going off with another out of his mind type of game. Dirk had 29 points 5 rebounds and 5 assists but missed a big free throw in the final seconds that would have put the Mavericks within three points with 36 seconds left. The role players played big in the 4th Quarter while Ibaka, Westbrook and Perkins sat and the lead for the Thunder grew from one point to almost ten points during the 4th Quarter.
Yet, it's only two games and this still a long series where a lot of adjustments will be made. Until then, let's all enjoy the beauty of that slam until Saturday Night at OKC. Enjoy!
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