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A20 SPORTS
Tuesday 14 November 2017
George, Westbrook lead Thunder past Mavericks, 112-99

By MURRAY EVANS flected much of the praise Cleveland. ... The Mavericks
Associated Press for the win to the Thunder’s went 11 of 37 from 3-point
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — younger players. range and have had at
With Oklahoma City down “We’ve got to be ready least nine 3-pointers in all
a superstar and a second for anything,” George said. 14 of their games. ...Official
starter, the Thunder’s oth- “When Steven went down, Sean Corbin issued techni-
er two superstars pushed Dakari (Johnson) stepped cal fouls to both Dirk Nowit-
aside the Dallas Mavericks. up. Melo went down and zki (in the second quarter)
Paul George scored 37 it was a huge contribu- and Carlisle (between the
points, Russell Westbrook tion from a bunch of guys. third and fourth quarters).
added 27 points and the Josh (Huestis) stepped up, Thunder: On his 29th birth-
Thunder overcame the ab- Jerami (Grant) stepped up. day, Westbrook chose to
sence of Carmelo Anthony We’ve got to be that team. wear a pair of neon orange
and Steven Adams to beat We’re fortunate to have Air Jordan shoes during the
the Mavericks 112-99 on two other guys who can first half before switching to
Sunday night. George was take the (scoring) load, a pair of black-and-blue
7 of 12 from 3-point range. but it’s even better when Air Jordans for the second
Anthony was ruled out we’ve got young guys who half. ... The Thunder made
about an hour before tipoff can step up and help the a season-high 15 3-point-
because of a sore lower team.” ers, in 32 attempts. ... Jera-
back, and Adams, Okla- Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George (13) shoots A 9-2 run, capped by Fer- mi Grant was given his first
homa City’s starting center, in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game against the rell’s 3-pointer, pulled Dal- start of the season in place
sat out a second straight Dallas Mavericks in Oklahoma City, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. las within 97-84 with 5:56 left of Anthony. ... Rookie Da-
game with a right calf con- Oklahoma City won 112-99. but the Mavericks came no kari Johnson started at cen-
tusion. Associated Press closer. Dallas coach Rick ter for the second straight
Without Anthony, George way they did, being down bined to go 5 of 18 from the Carlisle said the Mavericks game in place of Adams
and Westbrook carried the two starters, I thought they field in the half, but com- have to improve how they and matched up against
offensive load, fueling a 26- did a great job, all the way bined to score 32 of the play in the third quarter. NBA legend Nowitzki in the
10 run in the third quarter through, from top to bot- Thunder’s 39 points in the “We’ve got to fix it,” he post to begin the game.
that broke open what had tom.” decisive third quarter. said. “It’s got to become a HOT-HEADED NOWITZKI
been a tight game. Okla- Harrison Barnes had 22 With the game tied 48-48 mentality. We have to just Nowitzki appeared to ac-
homa City improved to 6-7, points and 13 rebounds, in the third quarter, West- do better in all areas. We’re cidentally hit Grant in the
winning its second straight and Yogi Ferrell had 18 brook scored on a drive, suffering with turnovers, face as Grant went up for
after four consecutive loss- points for the Mavericks. and then George blew by missed shots - that’s just go- a dunk midway through
es. They have dropped nine Dirk NowitzkI for a dunk that ing to happen in the NBA. the second quarter. At first,
“I thought defensively, it of their last 10 games to fall led to a Dallas timeout. That You can’t bellyache about officials ruled it a common
was our best game from to 2-12. Dallas is in a par- started the Thunder’s big missed shots, but your de- foul, but the Thunder asked
start to finish,” Thunder ticularly tough portion of its run, which included three fense has to be consistent. for a review and the play
coach Billy Donovan said. schedule, having lost both 3-pointers by Westbrook You have to execute and then was ruled as a fla-
“I thought we played a ends of a back-to-back and another by George. take care of the ball. You grant foul. Nowitzki wasn’t
complete game defen- against Cleveland and Westbrook’s final 3-point- have to be able to stop the amused and uttered some
sively. Offensively, I thought Oklahoma City, and with er during that stretch put other team. Tonight, giving choice words at Corbin,
we turned it over too games against San Antonio Oklahoma City up 74-58 up 39 in the third, that was who slapped the 20-year
much in the first half . but and Minnesota looming. with 3:35 left in the quarter. the game.” veteran with a technical
in the second half, offen- Oklahoma City led 44-42 George’s 3-pointer with TIP-INS: Mavericks: Devin foul. Carlisle stepped in be-
sively and defensively, we after a subpar offensive first 11:25 left in the game Harris missed the game be- tween Corbin and Nowitzki
played really, really well. ... half for both teams. West- pushed the Thunder’s ad- cause of bruised ribs he suf- and guided his player back
To come out and play the brook and George com- vantage to 88-67. He de- fered in a loss Saturday to to the Mavericks’ bench.q

For NBA, Chicago is slam dunk

for 2020 All-Star festivities

By ANDREW SELIGMAN Bulls executives Michael For years, chairman Jerry
AP Sports Writer Reinsdorf and John Paxson Reinsdorf opposed host-
CHICAGO (AP) — For the were on hand Friday for ing the game because of
NBA, Chicago was a slam the announcement on the concerns about displac-
dunk to host the 2020 All- United Center floor. ing season ticketholders.
Star game. Silver said Chicago faced But with son Michael — the
The city will host the show- “a lot of competition” to president and chief oper-
case event for the first time bring it back and the city’s ating officer — assuming
since 1988, when Michael plan put it “over the top.” more authority and grand-
Jordan took off from the Renovations in and around son Joey in favor, he re-
foul line in an epic dunk the arena, a new 10,000- lented.
contest and delivered an seat facility on the Near “We’ve been going for so
In this Sept. 28, 2017 file photo, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver MVP performance in the South Side and Emanuel’s many years,” Michael Re-
speaks during a news conference in New York. Chicago will game. desire helped bring in this insdorf said. “At the end of
host the 2020 All-Star game for the first time since 1988, when Commissioner Adam Silver, one. So did a change of the day, I tried to explain it
Michael Jordan took off from the foul line in an epic dunk contest
and delivered an MVP performance in the game. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and heart by the Bulls. to my dad. q