Durant leads Thunder in physical matchup vs Mavericks
Officials try to separate Dallas Mavericks forward Charlie Villanueva, left, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0). AP
OKLAHOMA CITY – Kevin Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder, helped when Dallas sat out its usual starters, beat the Mavericks 108-89 Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).
Thunder star Russell Westbrook was ejected in the second quarter after getting his second technical foul following skirmishes with J.J. Barea. Westbrook went scoreless, but had had eight assists and seven rebounds in 14 minutes.
With the Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back after an overtime loss to Cleveland, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle chose not to play his five regular starters – Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews, Chandler Parsons, Deron Williams and Zaza Pachulia.
Serge Ibaka posted his fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder. They are 13-1 this season at home against Western Conference opponents.
Barea scored 18 points, Salah Mejri had 17 – the first points of his NBA career – and Raymond Felton added 14 to lead Dallas.
Charlie Villanueva started for Dallas and was ejected.
The trouble began with 5:17 left in the second quarter when Barea appeared to throw a blind elbow toward Westbrook, which led to pushing, shoving and jawing among all 10 players on the court. No bench players came onto the court, but many coaches and security officials from both teams helped the game officials break up the scrum.
After an officials’ review, Barea, Westbrook and Ibaka each received a technical foul and Villanueva drew two technicals and was tossed. Barea was loudly booed every time he touched the ball the rest of the game.
About four minutes later, Barea was guarding Westbrook closely on a fast-break situation – Westbrook pushed away Barea’s arm while uttering an expletive.
Barea was called for a personal foul while Westbrook received his second technical and was ejected for only the third time in his eight-season career.
Westbrook shot 0 for 3 from the field and 0 for 4 from the foul line. It was only the second time in his career that Westbrook didn’t score in a game, and the first since March 21, 2010, against Indiana.
Dallas cut what had been a 29-point deficit to 83-69 on a 3-pointer by Barea with 10:14 left. The Thunder quickly built the lead back to 22.
Dion Waiters scored 18 points for Oklahoma City.
