OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Kevin Durant hit a 3-point shot as time expired Thursday to give the Oklahoma City Thunder a 104-102 victory over Dallas.
The defending NBA champion Mavericks have lost all three of their games this season and Oklahoma City has the league's best record at 4-0. Dallas is the first defending champion in 42 years to open the following season with three consecutive losses.
In a meeting of the teams that battled for the Western Conference title last season, Dallas opened a seven-point advantage in the third period only to fall behind six early in the fourth.
The Thunder led by five with 46 seconds after Russell Westbrook hit a jumper, but Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer for the Mavericks and Vince Carter made another one with 1.4 seconds to play that seemingly gave Dallas the win.
But after a timeout, Durant worked free to get the inbounds pass and his long 3-point attempt was perfect.
The winning shot produced the last of Durant's 30 points. Westbrook and Serge Ibaka both had 16.
Dirk Nowitzki paced the Mavericks with 29 points.
Oklahoma struggled to get the win despite shooting 58 percent and holding the Mavericks to 42. The Thunder, however, turned the ball over 26 times to 12 for Dallas.
