Thunder look to regain momentum in Dallas (Mar 27, 2017)
DALLAS -- After seemingly finding their stride lately, the Oklahoma City Thunder dropped their last two outings against marquee opponents badly.
The Rockets were the latest to deliver a beat-down, easily racing to a 137-125 victory over the Thunder on Sunday in Houston.
The Golden State Warriors administered a 16-point whipping on March 20 in Oklahoma City to snap the Thunder's five-game winning streak.
Oklahoma City arrives in Dallas on Monday needing to regain a measure of momentum with the playoffs less than three weeks away.
The Thunder (41-31) lost their last visit to Dallas earlier this month by 15 points. Defeats such as that one and the one Sunday at Houston are a concern.
"We cannot play like that on the road," Thunder center Enes Kanter said. "We just have to do a better job defensively, because we know we have enough talent here to score the ball, and right now the most important thing is defense and just lock in on defense."
Houston shot 63.3 percent, hit 20 3-pointers and rolled to a 20-point lead by halftime. That offensive display was more than enough to offset another triple-double by MVP candidate Russell Westbrook.
"They hit a lot of shots," Westbrook said. "They got hot and especially with a team like that, they get hot and it can be trouble. I think there's some things that we can do so hopefully we can look at that and see what we can kind of change."
The Thunder star had game highs of 39 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, his 36th triple-double of the season. Only Oscar Robertson had more in a single season, posting 41 in 1961-62.
However, the Thunder saw an 11-game winning streak end when Westbrook records a triple-double.
"I just play, man," Westbrook said. "I go out and play every night and play at a high level like I do every single night and try to help us win. It just didn't work out that way (Sunday), so I have to get ready for (Monday's) game."
While the Thunder continue to angle for playoff position in the Western Conference, the Mavericks (31-41) are likely looking at the lottery. Dallas trails Denver (35-38) and Portland (35-38) -- tied for the eighth spot -- by 3 1/2 games with 10 games left in the regular season.
The rest of the season for the Mavs appears to be focused on player development. For instance, coach Rick Carlisle moved Seth Curry to starting point guard and has brought rookie Yogi Ferrell off the bench the last two games.
"I don't really look at it as if I'm starting or coming off the bench," Ferrell said. "My mindset is going to be the same -- just trying to bring energy on the defensive end and offensively, just get in the paint and find guys."
Curry had 11 points, two assists and one steal in Saturday's 94-86 loss to Toronto, Dallas' fifth setback in the last eight games. Ferrell recorded 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal in 18 minutes.
Harrison Barnes tallied a game-high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and a team-high three steals. It was his 36th game with at least 20 points after tallying just 19 such efforts in his first four seasons combined with Golden State.
Dallas is also one defeat away from securing its first losing season since 1999-2000. The run of non-losing seasons beginning in 2000-01 coincided with Mark Cuban's first full season as owner.
