The series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks has gotten a little physical and intense. With the Thunder leading 2-1 heading into Saturday’s game 4 in Dallas, it was crucial for the Thunder to come out strong and take control of the series and that is what they did. They finished off the Mavericks 119-108 and head to OKC Monday to try and finish the series. They may have to play that game without one-half of their star-studded duo, Kevin Durant.
Late in game 4, as the Thunder were up by double digits (not even sure why Kevin Durant is in the game at this point), Kevin Durant hit Mavericks guard Justin Anderson across the head going for a block with excessive force and contact Via Your Sports.
After review, Durant was ejected out of the game with a Flagrant 2 foul and despite that not having any effect on this game, it will have an effect on Game 5 in OKC. All Flagrant 2 foul’s are up for review in the NBA and if the league decides that Durant was trying to hurt Anderson, he may as well miss Game 5. Maybe they should suspend him just to make the 1st round a little bit less boring. If that happens Russell Westbrook will have to carry the load, along with teammates Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter and Anthony Morrow, in order to finish off the series quickly. Durant spoke about the hit on Anderson and said that he knows the officials made the ‘right call’, from ESPN’s Royce Young:
Damon R. Marx of the Dallas Morning News caught this picture of Durant and Anderson after the game:
No hard feelings? Justin Anderson and Kevin Durant shake hands after game while reuniting with HS coach Stu Vetter. pic.twitter.com/ejr98wKqrC
— Damon R. Marx (@DamonMarxDMN) April 24, 2016
So maybe the league will consider this as making amends by Durant and they won’t suspend him, because it does really look like he didn’t mean to hurt Anderson. Durant only scored 19 points (7/20) last night which was the first time since November 10th, 2015 that he has failed to score more then 20 points in a game. Even when he did that in 2015, he left the game with a hamstring injury at halftime. What does that mean for the Thunder? Should Durant be able to play for the Thunder and advance them to the next round? Let us know what you think think @NBAOnDefPen!
