Thunder complete sweep of Mavericks

Oklahoma City kept picking and rolling, and James Harden kept making plays.

Instead of giving in and being content going home for a Game 5, the Thunder now are waiting for their next series. Visiting Oklahoma City rallied for a 103-97 victory Saturday night to complete a first-round series sweep of the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

Harden scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, including seven in a row and nine in the Thunder's 12-0 run after they trailed by 13 points with 9:44 left.

"I got into attack mode," Harden said. "I was determined to make plays."

After the Harden-fueled surge over 3 minutes got the Thunder within a point, they finally took the lead — and kept it — when Russell Westbrook stole the ball from Dirk Nowitzki and passed to Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam that made it 92-91 with 5:17 left.

“He beat us in individual drives, beat us in pick and rolls. He got up a head of steam and was great,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of Harden. “We tried everything, five or six different coverages going. We needed to be better but it was more about how good he was.”

Dallas is the second defending champion in five years to be swept in the first round. After beating the Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals, Miami lost in four games to Chicago the next year.

Kevin Durant had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, who will play the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver. The Lakers lead that first-round series 2-1 going into Game 4 tonight in Denver.

“This goes without saying, I’m excited we won the series,” coach Scott Brooks said. “James had an incredible game. We ran pick and rolls at the angles. ... He was making plays for himself or our shooters.”

Even when Harden bobbled the ball in the fourth quarter after Oklahoma City took the lead, Derek Fisher ended up with it and drove for a layup to make it 96-91. Nowitzki then had a shot that hit the rim a couple of times before falling out.

Nowitzki had 34 points, including all six of his free throws after that. But he also missed a couple of shots in that span, all that were close but not good.

With their 20-something All-Star duo of Durant and Westbrook along with the late-season addition of Fisher, who won five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder got the franchise’s first four-game playoff sweep since 1996.

That’s when they were still the Seattle SuperSonics and swept the Houston Rockets in a second-round series.

“If you want to be an elite team in this league, you got to have two or three guys who can go off at any time and I just thought they had more weapons than us,” Nowitzki said.

Spurs 102, Jazz 90: At Salt Lake City, Tony Parker scored 27 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, as San Antonio defeated Utah to take a 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

No NBA team has ever overcome an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. The Spurs can close it out Monday night in Salt Lake City.

Al Jefferson and Devin Harris scored 21 apiece for Utah, while Derrick Favors added 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in his most extensive action of the series.

The Jazz trailed by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter but cut it to five only to see Parker take charge. He made all five field goals and all six free throws in the final frame.

Clippers 87, Grizzlies 86: Chris Paul had 24 points and 11 assists and Blake Griffin added 17 points for Los Angeles, which beat visiting Memphis only after Rudy Gay missed a jumper just before the buzzer.

The Clippers won their first home playoff game in six seasons to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference playoffs.

Game 4 is Monday at Los Angeles.

Pacers 101, Magic 99, OT: George Hill hit a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds left in overtime to help visiting Indiana survive squandering a 19-point fourth quarter lead and beat Orlando to take a 3-1 series lead.

David West scored 26 points, including 12 in the third quarter and four in overtime for Indiana. Danny Granger added 21 points.

The Pacers won their third straight game and will try to close out it out Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Stoudemire hopes to play today: Amare Stoudemire had a message for his teammates after watching the New York Knicks’ latest postseason failure.

“I was like, ‘Don’t hit nothing,’” Stoudemire said.

A 3-0 deficit against the Miami Heat and an NBA-record, 13-game postseason losing streak may be a strange time for humor, but there was something else to brighten the Knicks’ mood.

Stoudemire worked out with his lacerated left hand wrapped and could be in uniform today when the host Knicks try to avoid the sweep.

“I think he’s going to play,” interim coach Mike Woodson said. “I think he wants to play and again, if doctors say he’s ready to play and they release him, then I’m going to play him.”

Stoudemire was injured when he punched a fire extinguisher case after Game 2, hitting some glass and needing surgery to repair a muscle. He said the injury could have been much worse, with the cut only a millimeter away from a nerve. He later posted a picture of the wound on his Twitter page.

Noah doubtful for Game 4: Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said forward Joakim Noah is doubtful for Game 4 today at Philadelphia because of a sprained ankle.

Noah got hurt midway through the third quarter of Friday night’s loss at Philadelphia. He stepped on Andre Iguodala’s foot driving the lane and crashed to the court. Noah instantly grabbed his left ankle in pain, though he returned to shoot free throws after a timeout. He also played briefly in the fourth quarter, before leaving the arena on crutches.

The eighth-seeded Sixers lead the series 2-1, winning both games after reigning Bulls star Derrick Rose tore a knee ligament and went down for the season in Game 1.