National Basketball Association
Oklahoma City 108, Dallas 70
When: 9:30 PM ET, Saturday, April 16, 2016
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Officials: #6 Tony Brown, #30 John Goble, #13 Monty McCutchen
Attendance: 18203

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Russell Westbrook scored 24 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 108-70 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder took a 1-0 lead in the first-round series with the Mavericks.

Westbrook shot 7 of 15 from the field to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists. Kevin Durant added 23 points, five assists and five rebounds in only 26 minutes of work and Serge Ibaka posted 17 points and nine boards.

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting. No other Maverick scored in double figures.

Game 2 is Monday in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder came out of the gates trying to blow the Mavericks out from the start. Built on the scoring of Durant and Westbrook and the dominant work on the boards, Oklahoma City jumped out to a 26-11 first quarter advantage.

Dallas didn't help its cause with its inability to score. Even though Oklahoma City's defense gave the Mavs opportunities to knock down wide-open shots, they were unable to connect and fell behind by 20 points midway through the second quarter.

The Thunder didn't let up on the struggling Mavericks. Enes Kanter and Ibaka got involved in the offense and the lead grew to 59-33 at halftime.

It didn't get any easier for Dallas in the third. Starting point guard J.J. Barea re-injured his groin and sat out the second half.

Without Barea, the Mavericks plan to slow the pace of the game took a serious hit. It also deprived Dallas of its one perimeter players who seems to relish facing Westbrook.

With only Nowitzki able to find his shot, and after Oklahoma City went up by 30, Carlisle bench his starters.

With the score 93-51 heading into the fourth, Thunder coach Billy Donovan sat his starters for the rest of the night.

NOTES: Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan says his friendship with Dallas coach Rick Carlisle stretches back more than 25 years to Donovan's brief playing stint in the NBA when the two were teammates on the New York Knicks. "We just always kind of kept in touch together," Donovan said. "Rick took me to my first Grateful Dead concert. It was kind of a crazy story. A great story." ... Dallas F David Lee missed Game 1 with right plantar fasciitis. "He is probably doubtful for Game 2, but we haven't ruled him out yet," Carlisle said. ... The Thunder enter the postseason with eight players who had never been in a playoff game before Saturday. "The reality of it is is that how we want to play and what we want to do is not changing because it is the playoffs," Donovan said. "It was the first game of a seven-game series. We will have to continually work and focus and concentrate. The last thing I want our guys to do is have a different mentality, so to speak."
Top Game Performances
 
Dallas   Oklahoma City
Dirk Nowitzki 18 Scoring Russell Westbrook 24
Jose Juan Barea 3 Assists Russell Westbrook 11
Zaza Pachulia 6 Rebounds Enes Kanter 13
Dirk Nowitzki 4 Free Throws Made Russell Westbrook 8
Zaza Pachulia 2 Steals Nick Collison 2
N/A Blocks Serge Ibaka 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Dallas 70 29.8 4-18 16-26 16 33 0 5 13
Oklahoma City 108 45.0 12-35 24-28 23 56 6 7 18
Upcoming Games
  • Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against Dallas. The Thunder have a W/L % of .679 after a win and .654 after a loss.
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Oklahoma City. The Mavericks have a W/L % of .452 after a win and .575 after a loss.