DALLAS -- With his innate ability to play defense, Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion guards Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant about as well as anyone in the NBA.
But with Marion slated to miss tonight's OKC-Mavs game with a strained left calf, this puts major pressure on Dallas' defense to try and contain the league's top scorer.
"With Durant, he's such a great player that it's never the responsibility of one guy (to defend him),'' coach Rick Carlisle said after Sunday morning's shoot around at American Airlines Center. "All five guys on the court have got to be reacting to everything he’s doing.
"We've got to be keyed into our coverages we got to be keyed into his tendencies. It's going to be a 48-minute propostion to try to make it tough on him.''
Durant leads the NBA in scoring with 28.3 points per game. He got a bunch of those points in the first two games against the Mavsthis season when he tallied 40 points during a 111-105 overtime win for OKC on Dec. 27, and then added 52 points during a 117-114 overtime victory for OKC on Jan. 18.
-- Dwain Price
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