Mavericks ride to easy win over Sonics
SEATTLE – Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points in just three quarters, Josh Howard added 18 and Dallas overcame some early shooting woes to beat the hapless Seattle SuperSonics 90-70 on Friday night for the Mavericks’ season-best sixth straight win.
Starting a stretch with five of six on the road, Dallas shook off making just 6 of 22 shots in the first quarter to easily rout the Sonics, thanks to a harassing defense that caused problems for Seattle rookie Kevin Durant all night.
Durant looked frustrated by the aggressive, physical defense of Howard, and it showed in his numbers. Durant was just 4 of 13 from the field, scoring 15 points, and spent a chunk of the fourth quarter on the bench.
“I took it as a personal challenge,” Howard said.
Reserve Wally Szczerbiak led Seattle with 17 points, but Seattle lost its sixth straight, the last five mostly lackluster efforts. The Sonics briefly flirted with the franchise record for fewest points in a game (65) before scoring 24 in the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks certainly didn’t look much like the group that routed Eastern Conference power Detroit at home on Wednesday night. Then again, they didn’t need to be against the Sonics.
Dallas won its 11th straight over Seattle, its last loss to the Sonics coming in December 2004. This one was decided fairly early, and Sonics fans were relegated to starting a few Seahawks cheers in the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks were never threatened after Seattle pulled within 28-27 on Szczerbiak’s 3-pointer midway through the second quarter. Howard answered with a swooping baseline layup, starting a 12-3 Mavericks’ run that helped give them a 44-35 halftime lead.
Dallas finally put away the Sonics, scoring 11 of the final 14 points of the third quarter. Seattle was held to just one field goal over the final 6 1/2 minutes of the quarter – a short jumper by Nick Collison with 10 seconds left – and the Mavericks pushed their lead to 20. Seattle managed just 11 points in the third quarter and made just 4 of 14 shots.
“What separates them is they play on both ends of the floor,” Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “They didn’t have a real good offensive night, but they found a way to win.”
About the only downside for Dallas was Erick Dampier’s streak of 14 consecutive field goals made coming to an end – on his first attempt of the game.