The injured list grew by one significant name Monday night as Jeff Green (back) joined Kevin Durant (ankle) among the walking wounded. The Thunder's two leading scorers didn't play in the upset win over Dallas.
Durant has missed two consecutive games because of a severely sprained right ankle and likely won't return this week or next. The league's fourth-leading scorer won't return until he's completely healed. Since the Thunder aren't in the playoff race, it makes no sense to rush their franchise player.
"We don't want it to linger into the summer when he will develop into an even better player," OKC coach Scott Brooks said. "It's important that he's 100 percent. Kevin is a big part of this franchise. We're not going to jeopardize a couple of games here and there."
Green woke up Monday morning with a sore lower back. He had averaged 27.5 points in the previous two games, helping pick up the slack for Durant.
Green was also the only member of the team to play in every game this season. His streak of consecutive games played was the 12th longest in the league.
THUNDER 96, MAVERICKS 87: Oklahoma City didn't cave this time. Three days after squandering a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter at Dallas, the Thunder held on to beat the Mavericks at home Monday night.
And they did it without leading scorers Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. Rookie point guard Russell Westbrook responded with the first triple-double of his career (17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists), and center Nenad Kristic had a season-high 26 points to lead OKC.
The Thunder (15-45) watched a 23-point lead get trimmed to four with four minutes left as Dirk Nowitzki tried to mount a rally similar to Friday's surge. This time, though, the Thunder didn't fold and pulled away for the win.
