DALLAS � Scott Brooks let the Oklahoma City Thunder have it during halftime of Game 2 of the Western Conference finals Thursday.
By Ronald Martinez, Getty Images
James Harden, left, and Kevin Durant combined for 47 points Thursday night as the Thunder defeated the Mavericks 106-100 to even the series at one game apiece.
By Ronald Martinez, Getty Images
James Harden, left, and Kevin Durant combined for 47 points Thursday night as the Thunder defeated the Mavericks 106-100 to even the series at one game apiece.
They had erased an 11-point deficit and were leading the Dallas Mavericks by two points, but their defense wasn't good enough, especially from Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins.
"Scotty was very upset. He wanted us to do much better. ? He got on us and everybody else kind of followed and we came out with a better effort," said Durant, who had a team-high 24 points. "That's what we needed."
The Thunder stole home-court advantage with the 106-100 victory that leveled the series at 1-1. They haven't lost consecutive games since April 2.
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BOX SCORE: Thunder 106, Mavericks 100
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PHOTO GALLERY: Top images from the postseason
Game 3 is Saturday in Oklahoma City (9 p.m., ESPN).
Brooks stuck with mostly his reserves when the Thunder started the fourth quarter ahead 77-76:
?Sixth man James Harden finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in 32 minutes.
?Point guard Eric Maynor contributed 13 points in 20 minutes.
?Nick Collison had six points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and played invaluable defense on Mavs 7-footer Dirk Nowitzki in logging 26 minutes.
"They killed us during the fourth," said Nowitzki, who had a game-high 29 points on 10-for-17 shooting. "Harden made 23 points on nine shots. That's the killer."
Westbrook drilled a three-pointer to give Oklahoma City a 59-57 lead at the half as the bench had 23 points led by Harden and Maynor with nine each.
"It was tremendous," Harden said of the second unit's play. "Eric made some great plays and Daequan hit a couple of big shots. Nick came in and played some great defense. I just tried to pick all my spots and make sure they were good."
Westbrook opened the third quarter with a pair of mid-range jump shots as the Thunder began to find a rhythm. When Dallas drew even at 65, Westbrook got an assist to Thabo Sefolosha and hit another jumper to regain the lead.
Westbrook finished with 18 points in 28 minutes, but Brooks wasn't happy with the flow of the game. So he swapped point guards, opting for Maynor's better decision-making.
"It doesn't happen often. Russell is an incredible player," Brooks said. "But we weren't getting a lot of things done and it was his time to come out and I stayed with Eric. I thought Eric was terrific in handling the decisions on the court and guys made big shots."
Harden hit a three-pointer to open scoring for Oklahoma City in the fourth quarter. With the Mavs staying close, he hit another with 7:38 left to give them a 91-87 cushion.
He took turns with Maynor knocking down pressure shots until the end, and Collison remained a factor doing the dirty work inside until fouling out with less than 40 seconds on the clock.
Dallas had the edge in points in the paint (40-38), on fast breaks (13-10) and on second-chance points (16-13), areas where the Thunder prevailed in a 121-112 Game 1 loss when Nowitzki torched them for a playoff-high 48 points.
Oklahoma City had a slight rebounding edge for the second game in a row 38-37, but they shot 55.7% from the field.
After shooting 53.4% in Game 1, the Mavs were held to 43.8% Thursday. Reserve guards Jason Terry and J.J. Barea, who combined for 45 points Tuesday, had only 19 this time. They combined to shoot 6-for-15, although coach Rick Carlisle believed what his team lacked was defense.
"Scoring 100 points in a playoff game should be enough to win, but not if you're giving up 106 or 112," Carlisle said. "It's just too much. You've got to give them credit. They played an attacking, desperate-type game. They kept coming. They did not get discouraged. Their bench was dominant when they played."
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