NBA: Dallas storm back to take game 5 and series

The Oklahoma City Thunder had done extremely well to stand up and be counted for the first three and a bit quarters, rebounding from their shattering game 4 defeat at home. This time, they hadn't built quite the same cushion, but they led by 8 points in the last and seemed to have enough answers to the Mavericks, with James Harden having an outstanding game in support of Durant and Westbrook. However, once again the Mavericks were able to shut down the Thunder offence in the last five minutes, scoring 14 of the last 18 points to take a 100-96 win and close out the series. Dirk Nowitzki was quieter, but still made crucial baskets, including the three pointer that gave them a late lead, to finish with 26 points, as did Shawn Marion who made some big plays late in the game. The Thunder, who had been so good all night at not turning over the ball, did so repeatedly in the closing minutes as a lack of composure that was evident in game 4's dramatic finale returned to haunt them. And with a few months off now, it will haunt them for a good while yet.