NBA-Opening burst of Thunder too much for Mavs

April 16 (The Sports Xchange) - Russell Westbrook scored 24 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 108-70 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder took a 1-0 lead in the first-round series with the Mavericks. Westbrook shot 7 of 15 from the field to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists. Kevin Durant added 23 points, five assists and five rebounds in only 26 minutes of work and Serge Ibaka posted 17 points and nine boards. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting. No other Maverick scored in double figures. Game 2 is Monday in Oklahoma City. The Thunder came out of the gates trying to blow the Mavericks out from the start. Built on the scoring of Durant and Westbrook and the dominant work on the boards, Oklahoma City jumped out to a 26-11 first quarter advantage. Dallas didn't help its cause with its inability to score. Even though Oklahoma City's defense gave the Mavs opportunities to knock down wide-open shots, they were unable to connect and fell behind by 20 points midway through the second quarter. The Thunder didn't let up on the struggling Mavericks. Enes Kanter and Ibaka got involved in the offense and the lead grew to 59-33 at halftime. It didn't get any easier for Dallas in the third. Starting point guard J.J. Barea re-injured his groin and sat out the second half. Without Barea, the Mavericks plan to slow the pace of the game took a serious hit. It also deprived Dallas of its one perimeter players who seems to relish facing Westbrook. With only Nowitzki able to find his shot, and after Oklahoma City went up by 30, Carlisle bench his starters. With the score 93-51 heading into the fourth, Thunder coach Billy Donovan sat his starters for the rest of the night.