Game 1: OKC Slaughters the Dallas Mavericks 108-70

In one of the worst postseason games in Dallas Mavericks history, OKC slaughters Dallas by 38 in Game 1 of the playoffs.

After losing the head-to-head series 0-4, Dallas came into Oklahoma City hoping to use their veteran leadership and experience to make it a challenging series.

With the loss of Chandler Parsons for the season (and no David Lee for Game 1), Dallas turned to J.J. Barea in the starting lineup to go with Deron Williams, Wesley Matthews, Dirk Nowitzki and a late switch to Salah Mejri at center. For OKC, it was the same healthy starting unit headlined by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Oklahoma City came out blazing with a 9-o start to the game that had the arena on their feet and the Mavs on their heels. The run continued throughout the whole first quarter as Dallas starting off shooting 3 for 19 from the field and finished the quarter down by 15.

The second quarter was the exact same story. Carlisle tried different lineups, called numerous timeouts, changed the pace and even brought in Charlie Villanueva into the game…nothing worked. Durant and the Thunder piled on in transition while the Mavs continued their shooting slump. OKC went into the half up by 26.

The second half continued the same trend as the Oklahoma City Thunder looked determined to show the world that they are ready to be considered contenders. Dallas finished the third quarter being down by a total of 42 points…yeah FORTY-TWO. Most of all the starters for both teams didn’t play the majority of the fourth quarter.

Dirk Nowitzki led the way for Dallas with 18 points on 25 minutes as he sat out a good portion of the second half. Williams, Matthews, and Barea finished with a combined 11 points on the night. Full box score here.

Here are three stats that led to the blowout…

Next: Shooting Woes