DALLAS — Take a sweep of the Lakers, a nine-day layoff and a dominant outing by Dirk Nowitzki in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, and it’s understandable why the Mavericks may have started thinking too highly of themselves.
Losing Game 2 at home to a team that played four subs nearly the entire fourth quarter should be a strong dose of humility.
“I’m not going to say a loss is ever good, because I don’t ever like to lose. It doesn’t do well for my sleep pattern,” Mavericks center Tyson Chandler said yesterday. “But sometimes you need to get hit on the chin and get woke up. [Thursday] night, they hit us on the chin. Hopefully, that woke us up.”
The Thunder withstood an early scoring barrage, wiped out an 11-point deficit by halftime then controlled things down the stretch on the way to a 106-100 win. Instead of being awed by the big stage, the Thunder’s youth, athleticism and perhaps a bit of naivety served them well.
Considering Oklahoma City pulled out Game 2 with All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook spending the last quarter on the bench, it would seem like they have plenty to build on as the series moves to their court for Game 3 tonight.
Provided, that is, Westbrook is OK with having had to watch.
Although he was agitated immediately after being pulled late in the third quarter, he said all the right things after the game, and continued to try to douse any controversy yesterday.
“My main focus is we got this far because the team is doing well, not if I’m doing good or bad,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook made 7 of 15 shots in Game 2, up from 3 of 15 in Game 1. And that was in only three quarters. He said he “thought I could’ve done a better job when I was in there.”
Coach Scott Brooks remained highly complimentary of his starter, calling him “a tremendous player for us.”