A few days (or hours..) after the blockbuster trade between the Mavericks and the Wizards that sent Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks, the Oklahoma Thunder roared past the Mavericks in a 99-86 win.
It wasn't exactly an ugly loss. The first quarter showed glimpses of what could be with Butler and Haywood leading the way with Nowitzki out. But that's it about potential. The next three quarters was about how the Thunder players beat them in convincing fashion.
“They were just making shots and we weren’t,” Butler said. “That’s the story of the game. The third quarter, that really killed us.”
Granted, this is their first game together and should not be used as the measuring stick to judge the success of the trade. There are more games to play for them to mesh their personalities and polish player chemistry and all that is pointing to is more wins.
The Mavericks organization believes that the trade will bolster their team in every aspect of the game and would give them the skills and bodies to match up with the reigning NBA champion, the Lakers, if ever they do meet in the finals.
Unfortunately though, Erick Dampier headed to the locker room with 2:54 remaining with an open dislocation of the middle finger on his right hand. His presence and Haywood's would provide solid defense inside the paint.
Dirk Nowitzki played a total of 36:04 (36 minutes and 4 seconds) and the coaching staff would like to bring his average playing time down. Thus, expect it to go down as the newly acquired players take their rightful places and start to adjust with the Dallas type of balling.
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