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Mavericks 109, Thunder 86
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
OKLAHOMA CITY — Forward Shawn Marion scored 19 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 109-86 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The 23-point loss represented the largest margin of defeat for the Thunder this season. Dallas snapped an 11-game losing streak to Oklahoma City.
With Thunder guard Russell Westbrook sitting out, the Oklahoma City offense ran through forward Kevin Durant much of the night. However, the team didn’t respond like it had when Durant ran the offense during Westbrook’s injury absence. Oklahoma City found itself down by 21 heading into the fourth quarter.
No matter what Oklahoma City (48-18) tried, Dallas had an answer to rebuff any fourth-quarter rallies. From 3-pointers by forward Vince Carter to fade-away jumpers by forward Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks (40-27) scored at will to start the quarter and put the contest away early.
Carter came off the bench to score 18 points while Nowitzki added 17 on 6-of-12 shooting. Guard Jose Calderon had 16 points and seven assists.
Durant led all scorers with 30 points on 8-for-20 shooting. It was his 31st straight game of scoring at least 25 points.
Forward Serge Ibaka added 19 points and six rebounds for the Thunder. Guard Reggie Jackson, who started in Westbrook’s place, had 13 points and three assists.
Dallas came out firing from behind the arc in the first period. Led by Calderon, the Mavericks were 4-of-8 from 3-point range as they took a 29-23 lead.
After falling behind by 10, Durant and Ibaka picked up the scoring for the Thunder. They closed the deficit to 50-46 before Marion led Mavs on a 9-2 run to end the half.
NOTES: Oklahoma City G Russell Westbrook sat out Sunday’s game against Dallas. Coach Scott Brooks said it was planned that Westbrook would be rested on in back-to-back games since he returned from injury on Feb. 20. Westbrook will be available on Monday at Chicago. … Dallas G Shane Larkin was featured in a documentary on Saturday titled Summer Dreams. A film crew followed Philadelphia 76ers rookie Michael Carter-Williams and Larkin around last summer. “CBS pretty much followed me around from before the draft, to the draft, what I did training-wise to get you to the draft,” Larkin said. “And basically it films how summer league works for rookies and guys who are out of the league trying to get back into the league, and undrafted guys and a whole bunch of different aspects.” … The Thunder signed Tulsa 66ers G Mustafa Shakur to a 10-day contract. Shakur was in uniform against Dallas. In the NBA Development League, the 6-foot-3 guard averaged 18.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 20 games with the 66ers this season and named the D-League Player of the Month for February.
