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Kevin Durant ejected late as Thunder take 3-1 series lead over Mavericks

Game 4 for the Dallas Mavericks was, for all intents and purposes, a must-win.

They couldn't pull it off.

Game 4 for the Dallas Mavericks was, for all intents and purposes, a must-win.

They couldn't pull it off.

It wasn't a must-win technically speaking, of course, but down 3-1 in the series with a trip to Oklahoma City on deck, and with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook coming back to form after their uncharacteristically awful shooting night in Game 2, the clock is ticking on the Mavs' postseason appearance.

The oft-chippy series remained as chippy as ever Saturday night from start to finish, but things got particularly heated late in the fourth quarter when Durant was issued a flagrant 2 foul for hitting Justin Anderson in the face as he was passing out of a layup attempt under the basket.

Durant was ejected for the final 50.6 seconds of the contest, but the Thunder — after keeping Dallas out of arm's reach for the majority of the game — walked away with a 119-108 victory.

Enes Kanter led all scorers with 28 points on 12-of-13 from the field and Westbrook dished out 15 assists for the second consecutive game to go along with 25 points. Durant struggled a bit to find his stroke, scoring 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting before his ejection.

For Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki dug deep to put together a vintage 27-point, eight-rebound performance and Raymond Felton continued to play at a high level with 19 points and 11 assists, but it ultimately wasn't enough to overcome the Thunder's high-powered offense.

Game 5, which is win-or-go-home for Dallas, will be on Monday night at 8 pm ET on TNT.

Follow AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK

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