Thunderous dunk can’t save short-handed Mavericks in loss to OKC
Dallas rookie Justin Anderson provided the highlight Tuesday night with a vicious dunk over shot-blocking specialist Serge Ibaka, but the Mavericks fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-88 in a preseason matchup at the BOK Center.
The play happened late in the third quarter and tied the score at 60 before a sellout crowd of 17,978. It had players on the Mavs’ bench jumping for joy.
“It felt really good,” Anderson said. “I can’t even try to downplay it.”
The Mavs dropped to 0-3 in the preseason heading into Friday’s home game against the Atlanta Hawks. But at least they got some justice knowing that — in addition to the highlight-reel dunk by Anderson — they were able to remain competitive for the balance of the game.
It felt really good. I can’t even try to downplay it.
Mavericks rookie Justin Anderson on his highlight dunk Tuesday night
A late 12-0 run by the Thunder (3-0) turned an 82-79 deficit into a 91-82 lead. The Dallas drought continued when former Mavs forward Anthony Morrow tallied seven consecutive points as OKC vaulted ahead 98-84 with 3:14 remaining in the game.
“Overall, I really like our competitiveness,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Parts of the game weren’t pretty, but we were playing hard and doing things hard the entire night. And we were doing it together, too, so I’m happy about that.”
“The first half I thought was very good. The third quarter was really solid, and we had our third-line guys in there. I’m disappointed to lose — I’m disappointed, but not dismayed.”
Dirk Nowitzki (rest), Chandler Parsons (knee), Deron Williams (calf), Wesley Matthews (Achilles), JaVale McGee (stress fracture) and Raymond Felton (hamstring) didn’t make the short trip to Tulsa. And Dwight Powell (elbow) didn’t dress.
But even with superstars Russell Westbrook (19 points, 20 minutes) and Kevin Durant (10 points, 20 minutes) still on the floor in the third quarter, the Mavs held their own.
Overall, I really like our competitiveness. Parts of the game weren’t pretty, but we were playing hard and doing things hard the entire night.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle
“Obviously, our main guys didn’t get to travel due to injury, and some guys are getting some rest from the summer,” Anderson said. “But the opportunity to step up — and I think that’s what Coach wanted to see, really, is for us to bone up and make those guys feel us, and I think we did a great job responding.”
Guard John Jenkins also did a great job responding, finishing with a game-high 26 points in just 29 minutes on 11-of-18 shooting. Jenkins has led the Mavs in scoring in all three preseason games.
“He’s playing aggressive; he’s a lot of good things,” Carlisle said. “He’s a threat at all times”
The Mavs committed 17 turnovers and shot just 38.8 percent from the field, but Anderson collected a preseason-best 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
“Once again, I’m just trying to continue to take strides in the right direction,” Anderson said. “Coach is putting us in a position to make the most of the preseason, and I think we’re really starting to touch on something.
“It felt really good, but at the same time [we’re] realizing we were in a position to win. We wanted to get this one really bad. Like you said, they had full power, so we wanted to go out there and try to sneak one.”
Dwain Price: 817-390-7760, @dwainprice
This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Thunderous dunk can’t save short-handed Mavericks in loss to OKC."