By Eddie Sefko
OKLAHOMA CITY – It was a night of orange shoes for Kevin Durant. But his footwear was the only hot thing he had going Wednesday night.
The former Texas Longhorns star has never had a seriously strong game against the Mavericks, and they continued to befuddle him in the form of a 4-of-18 shooting night in the Mavericks’ 100-86 win.
The Mavericks alternated Shawn Marion and Josh Howard as defensive stoppers against Durant, and he never got anything going.
It took a great player to understand what Durant was going through. Just two nights earlier, Dirk Nowitzki scored only 10 points against New Orleans. On this night, he watched another star struggle.
“What you want to do against a good player is mix it up, and he never got in a good rhythm,” Nowitzki said. “When he did get some shots, Shawn and Josh both contested him. Not letting him get off was a big key for us.”
All Thunder players, in support of the release of Durant’s new shoe, wore the orange sneakers. Maybe they should put them all back in storage.
The Mavericks aren’t immune to great players going off for big nights against them. But in Durant’s case, they seem to have the defensive players who can bother the slender swingman. And they trapped him on the pick and roll quite often.
While the Mavericks were able to overcome the snuffing of their star Monday, the Thunder couldn’t make up for Durant scoring only 12 points.
dallasnews.com
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