Playoffs GDT: Round 1, Game 3, 5/3/2012, 8:30 pm Central (TNT and Ch 21)

[BGMaverick9]

Time to get it done. Now that they're back home, let's see how the second tier players come out and play.

The Mavericks trail the best-of-seven first-round series with the Thunder, 2-0. Only 14 teams in NBA history have come back to win a best-of-seven series after falling behind 2-0, but the 2004-05 Dallas Mavericks were one of the teams to do so. After trailing 2-0 in the first round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs, the Mavericks fought back to defeat the Houston Rockets in seven games. They became one of only three teams in playoff history to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home (also the 1968-69 Lakers and the 1993-94 Rockets). The last team to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series was San Antonio in 2008 (came back to beat New Orleans in seven games in the 2008 Western Conference Semifinals). The Mavericks actually came back from a 2-0 hole in a best-of-five series when they won three straight to beat Utah in 2001.

The Thunder recorded a 99-98 win in Game 1 and a 102-99 victory in Game 2, taking the first two games of the series with the Mavericks at home. During the regular season, the Thunder recorded a two-point win (104-102) and a four-point win (95-91) in the two meetings at Oklahoma City on 12/29 and 3/5. Including the regular season, four of the six meetings between the Mavericks and Thunder this year have now been decided by four points or less. In fact, even the second of two preseason meetings between the two clubs on 12/20 was a four-point decision (Oklahoma City won 87-83 at Chesapeake Energy Arena).