Associated Press
Associated Press
DALLAS — Down by 13 points with less than 10 minutes remaining, youthful Oklahoma City could have easily have been content knowing they could go home for a Game 5 still needing to win only one more game.
The Thunder, with their 20-something All-Star duo Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, are instead going home to wait and see who they will play next.
And it was their other emerging star who led the way.
James Harden scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, including nine in a 12-0 run, and the Thunder rallied for a 103-97 victory Saturday night to complete a first-round series sweep of the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.
“I got into attack mode. I was determined to make plays,” Harden said.
“He was phenomenal,” said Durant, who scored 24 points. “His pick and roll game is unreal. It’s fun to watch, fun to be part of. The best part about our team is that we have a lot of guys who can play off each other, and we complement each other well.”
Dallas led 86-73 after Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer with 9:44 left before the Harden-fueled surge over 3 minutes when the only other score was a 3-poitner by Durant.
Oklahoma City finally took the lead, and kept it, after Westbrook stole the ball from Dirk Nowitzki and passed to Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam that made it 92-91 with 5:17 left.
“This goes without saying, I’m excited we won the series,” coach Scott Brooks said. “James had an incredible game. We ran pick and rolls at the angles. … He was making plays for himself or our shooters.”
Durant had 11 rebounds, while Westbrook and Fisher had 12 points each.
Oklahoma City plays the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver. The Lakers lead that first-round series 2-1 going into Game 4 on Sunday night in Denver.
It was the first four-game postseason sweep for the Oklahoma City franchise since 1996, when they were still the Seattle SuperSonics and swept the Houston Rockets in the second round.
Dallas is the second defending champion in five years to be swept in the first round. Miami lost in four games to Chicago in 2007, after beating the Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.
Dallas had never been swept in a best-of-seven series. And the Mavericks hadn’t lost four playoff games in a row since 2006 against the Heat.
But now they are the oldest team in the NBA, and vastly changed from last year’s championship squad.
“It was an up and down year,” said Nowitzki, the 11-time All-Star who had 34 points. “We weren’t consistent enough throughout to be an elite team.”
Even when Harden bobbled the ball after Oklahoma City took the lead for good, Fisher ended up with it and drove for a layup to make it 96-91. Fisher, a late-season addition to the young Thunder, won five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nowitzki then had a shot that hit the rim a couple of times before falling out, among several near misses for him down the stretch.
“If you want to be an elite team in this league, you got to have two or three guys who can go off at any time,” Nowitzki said. “I just thought they had more weapons than us.”
Oklahoma City finished off the Mavs without starting center Kendrick Perkins, who left the game with 4:09 left in the first quarter with a right hip strain. He had two rebounds, two assists and missed his only shot in his 8 minutes.
Jason Kidd, the Mavericks’ 39-year-old point guard, had 16 points and eight assists. Jason Terry had 11 points in what might have also been his last game in Dallas.
After Terry’s 3-pointer, Harden scored seven in a row — on a three-point play and two other baskets. Durant then made a 3-pointer. After Nowitzki was short on a 14-footer, Harden drove for a powerful two-handed slam that got the Thunder within 86-85.
“He got up a head of steam and was great,” said Rick Carlisle, the Mavs coach whose four-year contract is up. “We tried everything, five or six different coverages going. We needed to be better but it was more about how good he was.”
The Mavs had looked like they were ready after halftime to at least force the series back to Oklahoma City, where they opened the series with two losses by a combined four points before losing by 16 at home in Game 3.
The game was tied at halftime before Nowitzki had 12 points and Kidd made three 3-pointers in the third quarter, when the Mavs scored 34 points to take an 81-68 lead.
Nowitzki drove around Ibaka for a tiebreaking one-handed reverse layup less than a minute into the second half, and the lead was up to 64-54 when Shawn Marion had a slam.
Carlisle had talked about the Mavericks controlling their emotions after his outburst in the first quarter of Game 3. He had to be held back by an assistant coach when he charged onto the court and was pointing and screaming at an official because of what he said were three missed calls on one possession, ending with Oklahoma City scoring on what appeared to be basket interference.
Before the end of the first quarter Saturday night, Carlisle was mad again — and for good reason.
Kidd had bad pass that went out of bounds, but officials missed that the ball was deflected in the air by Harden. Replays showed clearly that Carlisle had a gripe and that the loud boos were warranted. Fisher then made a 22-foot jumper.
“Not our year. Take your hat off to them. They’re a good young team,” Terry said. “The balls were definitely bouncing their way. You have to give them credit. It just wasn’t our time.”
CLIPPERS 87,
GRIZZLIES 86
LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul had 24 points and 11 assists and high-flying Blake Griffin added 17 points for the Clippers, who won only after Rudy Gay missed a jumper just before the buzzer.
The Clippers won their first home playoff game in six seasons to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference playoffs.
Paul hit a fadeaway jumper with 2:02 left for an 82-80 lead. On the next possession he had a no-look bounce pass to Griffin coming in off the baseline for a monster slam.
Trailing 86-80 after two free throws by Paul, Gay hit a 3-pointer with 12.9 seconds left, Memphis’ first field goal since 7:10. After Los Angeles missed three of four free throws, Gay hit another 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds.
Eric Bledsoe missed two more free throws, Gay got a good look but missed. Gay finished with 24 points.
PACERS 101,
MAGIC 99, OT
ORLANDO, Fla. — George Hill hit a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds left in overtime to help the Indiana Pacers survive squandering a 19-point fourth quarter take a 3-1 series lead.
David West scored 26 points, including 12 in the third quarter and four in overtime for Indiana. Danny Granger added 21 points.
The Pacers won their third straight game and will try to close out it out Tuesday in Indianapolis.
Orlando had a final chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Glen Davis’ fade away jumper bounced off the side of the rim.
Jason Richardson led the Magic with 25 points and Davis added 24 points and 11 rebounds.
SPURS 102, JAZZ 90
SALT LAKE CITY — Tony Parker scored 27 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, and San Antonio beat Utah to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference series.
No NBA team has ever overcome an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. The Spurs can close it out Monday night in Salt Lake City.
Al Jefferson and Devin Harris scored 21 apiece for Utah, while Derrick Favors added 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in his most extensive action of the series.