Oklahoma City Thunder Scratch Out a Game 2 Win at the Dallas Mavericks

Scoring by Periods

Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Kevin Durant led his team with 24 points as the Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 106 to 100 at the American Airlines Center last night. With the win the Thunder have tied their Western Conference Finals series at one game each.

50 of the Thunders 106 points came from their bench with guards James Harden and Eric Maynor scoring 23 and 13 points, respectively.

Meanwhile for the Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki, in 40 minutes of action, led his team with 29 points, 10/17 shooting from the field and 9 free throws.

"We had a good start to the fourth quarter," Durant said. "You can't mess that chemistry up. Coach made a good decision by doing that."

The Thunder got going in the closing seconds of the third quarter, when Harden made a four-point play that put Oklahoma City up by one. Coach Scott Brooks then sent out four backups and his superstar for the final period, asking them to protect that lead.

They built on it from the start, never letting Dallas go back ahead. After a few tight minutes, the Thunder broke the game open with a 14-5 spurt capped by Harden hitting a tough jumper near the foul line. It put Oklahoma City up by 10 with 3:15 left, prompting a big scream from the bearded guard and a timeout from the Mavericks.

The Thunder shot 56 percent from the field, and again showed how much their youth and athleticism can hurt the older, slower Mavericks. Dallas came into this series not having allowed more than 97 points in any playoff game, and Oklahoma City has shattered that in both games.

"The defensive end is what we've got to solve," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "Scoring 100 points in a playoff game should be enough to win. Not if you're giving up 106, 112. Give them credit. They played an attacking, desperate game. Their bench was dominant when they played."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report