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Related Story: NBA Notebook: No filming of Durant’s movie Tuesday

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Kevin Durant scored 21 points and reserve James Harden added 16 to lead the Thunder to a 106-92 victory over the Mavericks on Sunday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

The Thunder reached the Western Conference finals last season before falling in five games to the Mavericks.

Oklahoma City has kept its young rotation intact, and the Thunder expects a smooth transition into the regular season.

“It should help a lot as far as chemistry is concerned,” said Durant, the NBA scoring leader last season at 27.7 points per game, whose aggressive play led to a 13-for-14 night from the free throw line. “We’ve been together for a while. We know each other’s games. Hopefully, our young legs push us through it.”

Oklahoma City went 31-for-55 from the field and 10-for-21 from beyond the 3-point line to help negate 25 turnovers that led to 33 Dallas points.

“Offensively, we were sloppy with the ball,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “Too many turnovers. But that’s something we have to work on and we will correct.”

Lamar Odom, acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade on Dec. 11, had 14 points and seven rebounds in his Mavericks debut.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, leaders of the Mavericks’ title run, were in uniform and are healthy but were rested. Delonte West and Odom started in their place.

Dominique Jones and Roddy Beaubois took advantage of additional minutes to score 17 points apiece, pacing Dallas.

“(Nowitzki and Kidd) being out, we’re not going to be the same team, but that’s all right,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “We need to see other guys.”

Nowitzki and Kidd are expected to play when the teams play Tuesday night at Oklahoma City.

The Thunder took control with an 11-0 second-quarter run that included two 3-pointers from Daequan Cook, expanding a 25-24 lead after one quarter to 58-51 by halftime.

Thunder 106, Mavericks 92

Oklahoma City	25	33	32	16	–	106
Dallas	24	27	19	22	–	92

OKLAHOMA CITY: Durant 4-5 13-14 21, Ibaka 2-2 1-1 5, Perkins 1-2 6-8 8, Westbrook 4-8 3-4 12, Sefolosha 1-3 2-2 5, Collison 2-2 0-0 4, Mohammed 0-3 0-0 0, Harden 4-7 5-6 16, Maynor 4-8 0-0 9, Cook 4-6 0-0 12, Aldrich 2-2 1-2 5, Hayward 1-3 2-2 4, Jackson 1-3 1-2 3, Reid 0-0 0-0 0, Ivey 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-55 34-41 106.

DALLAS: Marion 2-6 2-3 6, Odom 5-11 2-4 14, Haywood 2-4 0-3 4, West 1-7 3-3 5, Carter 4-11 1-2 9, Cardinal 1-3 0-0 3, Terry 0-2 4-4 4, Beaubois 7-13 0-0 17, Mahinmi 3-8 2-2 8, Jones 4-9 8-9 17, Randle 1-4 2-2 5, Neitzel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-79 24-32 92.

3-point goals: OKC 10-21 (Cook 4-6, Harden 3-5, Westbrook 1-1, Sefolosha 1-2, Maynor 1-3, Hayward 0-1, Durant 0-1, Jackson 0-2), Dallas 8-20 (Beaubois 3-6, Odom 2-3, Cardinal 1-2, Jones 1-2, Randle 1-3, West 0-1, Terry 0-1, Carter 0-2). Rebounds: OKC 50 (Perkins 8), Dallas 38 (Odom 7). Assists: Oklahoma City 17 (Westbrook 4), Dallas 21 (Jones 7). Total fouls: Oklahoma City 29, Dallas 32. Technicals: OKC defensive three second 2, Dallas defensive three second. A: 19,287 (19,200).

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Preseason

Thunder 106, Mavericks 92

Preseason up next

Vs. Dallas

7 p.m. Tuesday

TV: FSOK-27

Season opener

Vs. Orlando

7 p.m. Dec. 25

TV: ESPN-25, FSOK-27

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 21 points and reserve James Harden added 16 to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 106-92 victory over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

Durant, the NBA scoring leader last season at 27.7 points a game, went 13 for 14 from the free throw line.

Lamar Odom, acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade on Dec. 11, had 14 points and seven rebounds in his Mavericks debut.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, leaders of the Mavericks title run, were in uniform and are healthy but were rested.

Delonte West and Odom started in their place.

Dominique Jones and Roddy Beaubois had 17 points each to pace Dallas.

The Mavs are working newcomers Odom, Vince Carter and West into their rotation, looking to make up for the losses of key rotation members Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and Caron Butler to trades or free agency.

Oklahoma City returns its core of young players.

The teams complete their two-game home-and-home exhibition set Tuesday night at Oklahoma City.

DALLAS (AP)—While competitors like the defending champion Dallas Mavericks
have altered their rotations, the Oklahoma City Thunder is standing pat.

Kevin Durant scored 21 points and reserve James Harden added 16 to lead the
Thunder to a 106-92 victory over the Mavericks on Sunday night in the preseason
opener for both teams.

The Thunder reached the Western Conference finals last season before falling
in five games to the Mavericks.

Oklahoma City has kept its young rotation intact, and the Thunder expects a
smooth transition into the regular season.

“It should help a lot as far as chemistry is concerned,” said Durant, the
NBA scoring leader last season at 27.7 points per game, whose aggressive play
led to a 13-for-14 night from the free throw line. “We’ve been together for a
while. We know each other’s games. Hopefully, our young legs push us through
it.”

Oklahoma City went 31 for 55 from the field and 10 for 21 from beyond the
3-point line to help negate 25 turnovers that led to 33 Dallas points.

“Offensively, we were sloppy with the ball,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks
said. “Too many turnovers. But that’s something we have to work on and we will
correct.”

Lamar Odom, acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade on Dec. 11, had
14 points and seven rebounds in his Mavericks debut.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, leaders of the Mavericks’ title run, were in
uniform and are healthy but were rested. Delonte West and Odom started in their
place.

Dominique Jones and Roddy Beaubois took advantage of additional minutes to
score 17 points apiece, pacing Dallas.

“(Nowitzki and Kidd) being out, we’re not going to be the same team, but
that’s all right,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “We need to see other guys.
Our philosophy is that when we’re without any of our guys, the guys that are
available need to get the job done. We weren’t able to do it tonight.”

The Mavs are working newcomers Odom, Vince Carter and West into their
rotation, looking to make up for the losses of key rotation members Tyson
Chandler, J.J. Barea and Caron Butler to trades or free agency.

The teams complete their two-game home-and-home exhibition set Tuesday night
at Oklahoma City, and Nowitzki and Kidd are expected to play.

The Thunder took control with an 11-0 second-quarter run that included two
3-pointers from Daequan Cook, expanding a 25-24 lead after one quarter to 58-51
by halftime.

Oklahoma City went 7 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half, with Cook
hitting 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Durant’s nine points in the third quarter, all on foul shots, pushed the
Thunder to a 90-70 advantage entering the fourth.

Dallas was 7 for 21 from the floor in the third quarter as the Thunder
turned up the defensive pressure.

“Our defense was pretty good,” Durant said. “We were making our
rotations, helping each other out, and we got to the free throw line.”

Dallas opened the fourth quarter with a 14-0 run and pulled as close as
93-88 on Ian Mahinmi’s dunk with 5:04 remaining.

But the Thunder scored the next five points, including a pair of jumpers
from Eric Maynor, for a 98-88 edge with 3:21 left, closing out the Mavs.

NOTES: Carlisle said his primary goal in a short preseason is getting his
veteran team into game shape. “Our guys would benefit from a longer camp, but
that’s not in the cards,” Carlisle said. … The Mavericks open the regular
season on Christmas Day, hosting Miami, their opponent in the finals. The
Thunder host Orlando on the same day.