DALLAS -- Kevin Durant scored 31 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat up the Dallas Mavericks, 95-79, Thursday night at American Airlines Center in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
With the victory, the Thunder took a commanding 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven series and need just one more win to advance to the Western Confernece semifinals. Meanwhile, the defending champion Mavs are on the brink of elimination.
No team in NBA history has battled back from an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Saturday at the AAC at 6:30 p.m.
The Thunder led from wire-to-wire and, for the most part, were never seriously threaten by the Mavs. OKC led by as much as 26 points (86-60) with 10:10 left in the game. It was just a bad night at the offcie for the Mavs, who shot 34.2 percent from the field.
Besides Durant, the Thunder got 20 points from Russell Westbrook, and 10 each from Serge Ibaka, James Harden and Derek Fisher. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 17 points, Jason Kidd scored 12 and Jason Terry added 11.
-- Dwain Price
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