Thunder Crushes Mavericks Behind Huge First Half

Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City to yet another win over Dirk and the Mavs. <br />

Monday, February 4th 2013, 10:35 pm

By: News 9


The Thunder used a dominant second quarter to propel a 112-91 blowout of the Dallas Mavericks Monday night in Oklahoma City.

Despite the final score, this one didn't start off nearly as lopsided as it ended. In fact, with just minutes to play in the first quarter, the game was tied 22-22.

Then, on a 3-on-1 break, Kevin Martin dished it to Russell Westbrook, who lobbed it right back to Martin for a gorgeous alley-oop. That not only broke the tie, it opened the floodgates. Oklahoma City turned that basket into a dominant stretch, ending the first half on a 46-22 run.

Westbrook led the way in the first half with 17 points and six assists while Kevin Durant scored 15 points and Martin added 11. The Thunder shot 57.5 percent from the floor in the half including 5-9 from 3-point range. OKC also used an impressive 17-20 mark from the free-throw line to help build its lead.

The third quarter got a little better from the Mavericks' perspective as they held OKC to just 24 points, but still got outscored by one in the period.

Thanks to the wide scoring margin, the Thunder stars took the fourth quarter off while the bench got some valuable playing time. Martin, Nick Collison, Reggie Jackson, Hasheem Thabeet, Eric Maynor and DeAndre Liggins all scored in the final quarter while former Bishop McGuinness star Daniel Orton played seven minutes in his first game of the season. As the intensity lessened and the Thunder bench earned more and more minutes, OKC's efficiency fell off in the second half, but the first half sent the message loud and clear.

Westbrook finished with 24 points while Durant totaled 19 and 10 rebounds. Martin chipped in 17 off the bench while recording an impressive +31 plus/minus.  Kendrick Perkins added seven points and seven rebounds while Serge Ibaka scored 12 points and grabbed five boards.  No Thunder player played more than 29 minutes. 

OKC (36-12) hosts Golden State on Wednesday night, while Dallas (20-28) hosts Portland in its next contest.  The Thunder is 3-0 against Dallas this season and has won nine straight (including playoffs) against them over the past two seasons.  

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