The Oklahoma City Thunder's blowout victory in Game 1 was supposed to serve as the Dallas Mavericks' playoff obituary. Here's the problem: No one told the Mavericks.
Dallas limped into Monday night's Game 2 matchup against Oklahoma City: J.J. Barea sat with a groin strain. Deron Williams made an improbable start as he battled through a sports hernia suffered earlier this season. Chandler Parsons is still done for the year following right knee surgery. Dirk Nowitzki remains old.
The stench of Saturday night's 108-70 letdown, the second-worst postseason loss in franchise history, lingered like a rotting egg. Put simply, the Mavericks had no business winning Game 2.
They won anyway.
Led by Raymond Felton—yes, him—the Mavericks scrapped and clawed and crawled their way toward an 85-84 win on Oklahoma City's home floor. They now head back to Dallas for Game 3, with home-court advantage and a monumental single-game upset in their back pocket, per ESPN:
There will be those who paint Dallas' win as Oklahoma City's failure. And they will be right on many levels.
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Dan Favale
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