OKLAHOMA CITY (Sporting Alert) Kevin Durant poured in 40 points and Serge Ibaka finished with a fine double-double and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied to beat the Dallas Mavericks 111-105 in overtime here at Chesapeake Energy Arena Thursday night.
Durant impressive night also saw him grabbing eight boards, five assists and three blocks.
Ibaka also had an impressive night where he scored 19 points and matched his season high of 17 rebounds as the Thunder rallied from 10 points down with 7:17 left in the fourth quarter to put the visitors on the back foot.
Russell Westbrook, who after scoring just eight points in the regulation period, knocked down eight in overtime as Oklahoma City ended a two game skid with the win and improved to 22-6 on the season.
“Sometimes there’s nights like that,” Westbrook said after the game. “You’ve just got to continue to play, fight through it and play your game.
“I just try to make an impact on the game. Maybe it’s not scoring. Maybe it’s rebounding, maybe it’s passing, maybe it’s defending.
“But I just try to make an impact on the game every night.”
Thunder coach Scott Brooks was delighted with the overall contribution of Westbrook even though he didn’t have a tear-away night in the scoring column.
“He kept fighting and kept fighting for the team,” Brooks said.
“I love Russell. I love what he does. I love what he’s about. He competes every time.
“He’s a big part of why we’re a good team.”
Darren Collison finished with 32 points, including the stunning desperation buzzer beating 3-pointer that send the game into overtime.
“Collison was terrific; really tremendous on both ends,” said Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle.
“The way he played tonight is what we need from him.”
Chris Kaman had 17 points and eight rebounds and Shawn Marion collected 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Dallas Mavericks, which have lost four games in a row and seven in its last eight.
“They made some plays and we made some mistakes, but we were still right there,” said Carlisle.
“When we needed one stop, we couldn’t get it. When we needed one rebound, we couldn’t get it.
“When we just needed one score we couldn’t get it and that’s the way this league is, it’s tough.”
Star forward Dirk Nowitzki added nine points and six rebounds in his second game coming back from knee surgery.
Nowitzki played 26 minutes and was pulled in overtime for Marion.
“I didn’t really want the ball that much,” Nowitzki said.
“I don’t really feel like I’ve got the stamina, the lift to do something out there with the ball, make a one-on-one move.
“I think that I’m a week or two away of really dominating the ball down the stretch and making some stuff happen.”
Elsewhere, Kevin Martin contributed 17 points and seven boards in the victory for the Thunder. It was the first time Oklahoma City was playing after back-to-back defeats this season.
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