Nowitzki, Barea put on a clinic as the Mavericks gallop past the Thunder
| Boston
Don鈥檛 ever tell J.J. Barea he can鈥檛 do something. Defying odds has been his life鈥檚 work.
As only the seventh player of Puerto Rican descent to play in the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks鈥� reserve guard was originally undrafted by the NBA out of Boston鈥檚 Northeastern University and in 2006 gained a spot on the Mavericks only after being scouted while participating in a summer league.
In the first game of the Western Division finals Tuesday night, Barea once again confounded convention by driving through the Oklahoma City Thunder defense like a warm knife through butter - making layup after layup with deftness reminiscent of NBA star 鈥�Pistol鈥� Pete Maravich. Barea鈥檚 21 points off the bench were a critical factor in securing the 惭补惫别谤颈肠办蝉鈥� 121-112 victory at the American Airlines Center. At one point in the third quarter, Barea scored 10 consecutive points, which left a puzzled Oklahoma City searching in vain for answers.
And then there was the performance of Dallas鈥� power forward/center Dirk Nowitzki.
Nowitzki's remarkable 48-point performance included sinking all 24 free throws he took 鈥� an NBA playoff record. In fact, he missed only 3 of 39 shots all night 鈥� going 12 for 15 from the floor. And again, his versatility in shot making proved crucial.
Nowitzki hit repeatedly from both the perimeter and inside. Midway through the fourth quarter, he was defended by Serge Ibaka, who could be seen flailing his arms in front of Nowitzki like an amateur snake charmer trying to tame the Dallas seven-footer鈥檚 deadly fall-away jump shots. When Nowitzki decided to turn and charge the rim, an Oklahoma City foul often followed.
Following the game, Oklahoma City鈥檚 Kevin Durant, whose outstanding 40-point output was almost a footnote when contrasted with Dallas鈥� heroics, was asked by a reporter why Nowitzki could be so productive. Durant replied, 鈥淗e鈥檚 a seven-footer who makes jump shots.鈥�
The reporter followed up with: 鈥淚s that it?鈥� Durant followed dryly, 鈥淵eah.鈥�
But that鈥檚 really only part of the story, Nowitzki and Barea worked the pick-and-roll to near perfection, decoying Oklahoma City鈥檚 big men to the top of the key, while Barea repeatedly exploited a clear lane to the hoop. Aside from Durant, Oklahoma City enlisted a quintet of players to guard Nowitzki, including big men Ibaka, Nick Collison, and Kendrick Perkins, as well as guards James Harden and Thabo Sefolosha 鈥� all with equal ineffectiveness.
惭补惫别谤颈肠办蝉鈥� guard Jason Terry, not to be outdone, contributed 24 points; but his contributions far exceeded his point total. Together with Jason Kidd (who also added 11 assists) and Barea, his stingy defense was crucial in holding Thunder guard Russell Westbrook to 3-15 from the floor. The Mavs never allowed reserve guards Harden (12 points) and Daequan Cook (6 points) to get into any meaningful scoring rhythm. Oklahoma City鈥檚 bench contributed only 22 points to Dallas鈥� 53. This is a clear weakness for the Thunder, who have come to rely heavily on Durant outside 鈥� and Ibaka inside 鈥� for the bulk of their scoring. And with Westbrook鈥檚 inconsistency, it鈥檚 placed considerably more stress on their bench.
Even with their shortcomings, Durant鈥檚 efforts largely brought back the Thunder from a 16-point deficit to five late in the fourth quarter. But when a team like Dallas shoots 34-36 from the foul line, leads die hard.
The two teams square off again Thursday night on ESPN.
