AUTOGRAPHS

Five fatal minutes place the Thunder on the borderline of the elimination

The Thunder blew a 15-point lead with 5 minutes to go, could have won it on clutch time but Durant’s 3-pointer was blocked, didn’t find a response in the OT and is now down 3-1 in the series against the Mavericks. 

Let’s face it, these Oklahoma City Thunder don’t look nothing alike the 1995 Houston Rockets or the 1968 Boston Celtics, which are the only two squads in NBA history to rally a 3-1 deficit without having the home field advantage on their side. Game five will be played in the American Airlines Center in Dallas this Wednesday, day that their 2011 NBA Finals dream could come to an end if the Dallas Mavericks win.

If that dream is about to be over the Thunder have no one else to blame but themselves, for they could be traveling to Dallas with the possibility of evening the series to three-games apiece if they hadn’t blown a 15-point lead in the last five minutes of regular time, and ended up losing the game 105-112 in the OT. 

Despite having the chance to win the game with a clutch time shot from their star and top scorer Kevin Durant, which was blocked right on time by Shawn Marion, a victory would have done nothing but disguise all the deficiencies from a team that gave up 25 overturns.

If Durant and Russell Westbrook are having a night like the one they had on Monday, missing more than 50% of their field goal shots, don’t expect the bench to step up for the team, because that is simply not going to happen. Once again the substitutes where outplayed by the Mavs’ bench, this time by 40 to 21.

Not only was the Mavs’ bench superb, but also Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd were phenomenal. The power forward had another great night from the free throw line, missing just one of his 15 free throws that accounted for 35% of his 40-point game. While Kidd reported 17 points, which included the triple that untied the game when there were just 40 seconds to in the OT.  

What was the Mavs’ secret to rally 15 points in the last five minutes to force the OT and win the game? That they “kept believing” as Nowitzki explained. Earlier we said that if the Thunder would have won the game it wouldn’t have done nothing but disguise their deficiencies, but this affirmation doesn’t mean that Dallas’ victory wasn’t a surprise either. It’s like Brendan Haywood said: “you’re lying if you’re not surprised.”

This “surprise” victory represents Dallas’ ninth victory from their last 11 Playoffs games, stats that pretty much summarize the good moment that the teams is going through as of press time.

Only one game separates the Mavs from the 2011 NBA Finals, and the chances of having a rematch from the 2006 final are increasing, since in the Eastern Conference the Miami Heat leads the series 2-1, and enjoys of the home field advantage for game four, to be disputed tonight at the American Airlines Arena.

About the Author

When it comes to sports, Andrew Hill is more than just a passionate fan. Despite being in the early years of his career as a journalist, which began in 2006, he has proven that he can translate that passion into truthful and objective information of interest for the sports betting industry. As of today he specializes in the coverage of European soccer and NBA and NCAA basketball for BetIAS‘ website.  

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