With his team facing elimination Monday night, Mark Cuban made the idiotic remark that Russell Westbrook is no superstar, but merely a very good All-Star player.
Transcript of @realmarkcuban saying Russell Westbrook is an All-Star, but no superstar: https://t.co/JYZ7gbfTxw pic.twitter.com/t39NLbKDEJ
— Erik Horne (@ErikHorneOK) April 25, 2016
Westbrook responded with his play on the floor—36 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists—and teammate Kevin Durant fired back at the Mavericks’ owner after scoring 33 points in the OKC Thunder’s 118-104 win to boot Dallas out of the postseason.
Rick Carlisle: "Their two superstars were great in this series." Two.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 26, 2016
KD says the Mavs needed “gimmicky defense” for their lone victory of the series.
Per the AP:
Westbrook was 13 of 23 from the field and 7 of 8 on free throws. Durant scored 33 points and Steven Adams added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who will play the San Antonio Spurs in a series that begins Saturday. […] Oklahoma City shot 50.6 percent from the field and outrebounded the Mavericks 42-35.
The Thunder lost Game 2 85-84 at home, then won three straight, including two on the road. […] “They just played gimmicky defense,” Durant said. “They didn’t really play solid. They weren’t really disciplined the entire series. That’s how we were able to shoot such a high percentage except for that second game. It took all of that to win by one point — us having a historically bad night shooting the basketball. But for the most part, we got whatever we wanted on the offensive end.”
Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points. Though the 37-year-old forward said Monday that he plans to finish his career as a Maverick unless the team decides to rebuild, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle is still going to recruit him. […] “We’ve got to hope that this isn’t Dirk’s last game as a Maverick,” Carlisle said. “He has the option to become a free agent. I’m ready to get on a plane to go to Germany and recruit him to be back. I don’t think we can take that for granted. I think we have to give him that kind of respect.”
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