We live-blogged Game 1 of the Western Conference finals tonight, as Dallas defeated Oklahoma City behind Dirk Nowitzki's 48 points. Running account picks up below.  So here's a question. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said last week that Nowitzki is one of the 10 greatest players in NBA history. Our response is: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Tim Duncan, Moses Malone, Dr. J, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon. That's 11 right there we'd rank ahead of Nowitzki. What do you say?  12:02: Final Dallas stats: Nowitzki was nothing short of amazing, with a 48-point night on 12-for-15 shooting (80%). He was 24-for-24 from the line, which is an NBA record for most FTs without a miss in a playoff game. Dirk also had 6 boards, 4 assists and 4 blocks. Jason Terry (24 points) and J.J. Barea (21) combined for 45 off the bench. terry had four threes, and Barea was 8-for-12. Jason Kidd's scoring was limited to one three-pointer, but he had 11 assists. Dallas shot 53.4% and was 34-for-36 from the line. So much for the Mavericks being rusty after their long layoff after sweeping the Lakers.  11:58: Final OKC stats. Durant had 40 on 10-for-18 shooting, and was 18-for-19 from the line. He also had 8 rebounds, 5 assists and two blocks. Westbrook had an awful shooting night, going 3-for-15, but salvaged a 20-point game by going 14-for-18 from the line. Thunder shot 47.2%, were 7-for-16 on threes and wewre 37-for-43 from the line.  11:54: Game over. Dallas wins 121-112. Nowitzki's 48 points are the story. Half his points came from the free throw line, and he never shot a three all night. Back in a couple with final stats.  11:52: Nowitzki at the line for two more. Makes them both, and that's 24 straight from there, giving him 48 points. Timeout, 19 seconds left, Dallas up 121-112.  11:50: Jason Terry hits his fourth three on a feed from Nowitzki. Mavs up 119-110 with 28.2 seconds left, and that sure looked a lot like match point.  11:49: Westbrook at the line and hits two to cut Dallas' lead to 6 with 1:35 left.  11:47: Durant buries a three. He has 40. But Nowitzki answers with two more and has 46. Dallas up 9 with 1:12 left.  11:45: Westbrook hits a basket and is 3-for-15. But the Nowitzki answers. He has 44 points and Dallas is up 112-104. Timeout with 1:42 left.  11:41: Nowitzki hasn't scored in the fourth quarter, but he draws the foul and is headed to the line . . . He makes them both, and that's 22 in a row, a record for free throws made without a miss in a playoff game. Breaks Paul Pierce's record. We were wrong earlier, saying the record belonged to Mark Price.  11:40: Marion fouls out for Dallas. Timeout with 2:53 left and Dallas up by 7. There have been 67 free throws attempted in this whistle-happy game, and 61 were good. That's a combined 91% rate for both teams.  11:38: Durant hits again to keep it as a 5-point game. Durant has 37 to Nowitzki's 40.  11:36: Nowitzki fouls Durant and KD makes two to cut it to 5, 104-99.  11:33: Thunder hit those free throws, Harden goes strong to the rim for two more and OKC is within 7 after an 8-0 run  11:30: Timeout with 5:35 left. Thunder down 104-93 but can get the margin to under 10 when they shoot free throws after the break.  11:27: Barea hits a three and that gives him Dallas' last 10 points and 19 overall. Durant is at 31, and then Barea hits again to get him to 21, and a 13-point Dallas lead. Barrea's 21 points have come in 14 minutes.  11:25: Turns out Nowitzki is human. He travels, and it costs him a basket. This is, BTW, the sixth 40-point playoff game of his career.  11:23: Unless there's a dramatic shift, the story of this game is going to be Nowitzki's dead-eye shooting and 40 points (and counting) night. But Dallas' bench has been a big factor. The Mavs reserves are outscoring their counterparts by 39-20, with 17 for Terry and 14 for Barea.  11:20: J.J. Barea gets a quick pair of baskets off the bench, and has 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting as Dallas extends its lead to 97-83. Timeout, 9:53 left in the game.  11:18: Nowitzki has hit all 20 of his free throws and has 40 points. One more, and he equals his jersey number.  11:15: Fourth quarter under way. Dallas is 25-for-27 from the line, but OKC is nearly as good, at 25-for-29. Westbrook is 10-for-12 there, which has offset his 2-for-13 shooting night.  11:10: Jason Terry drills his third three. He has 15 points. But then Terry picks up a technical for swatting away Harden's hand but hitting him in the face. Seems like the third quarter was spent entirely at the line. Quarter ends with Dallas leading 90-79. Nowitzki had 17 of his 38 points in the quarter. Durant has 26.  11:07: Nowitzki takes a seat with under 2 minutes left in the third. Durant hits a pair in what is becoming a free throw contest. Dallas up by 12.  11:06: Excuse me for repeating myself, but Nowitzki hits yet two more free throws. That's 18 straight, and Dallas is up 83-68 with 2:29 left in the third.  11:05: Two more free throws for Nowitzki, making him 16-for-16. All-time record in a playoff for free throws without a miss, according to ESPN, is 21 by Mark Price.  11:04: With all the attention on Nowitzki, Jason Kidd has no trouble getting open, and he buries his first three of the night. Dallas' 79-65 lead is its largest of the night, 3:32 left in the third.  11:01: Nowitzki his a free throw on a technical. That's 34. He has hit all 14 of his free throws and is 10-for-11 from the field. (That's 90.9% shooting.)  10:58: Nowitzki again, on a pull-up jumper. That's 33 for him. Timeout with 4;12 left in the third and Dallas is cruising, 75-64.  10:56: Nowitzki, off-balance and falling away, hits the basket off the glass. He has 31 in 27 minutes, and is 9-f0r-10 from the field. Dallas up 9.  10:54: With 5:49 left in the third Nowitzki hits two more free throws, and Dallas is up 68-62. Nowitzki has made all 12 of his free throws and has 28 points.  10:51: Westbrook finally gets his second basket of the game. He's 2-for-12. Dallas lead cut to 66-62.  10:49: OKC's strategy of putting Durant on Nowitzki fails miserably. He picks up two quick fouls and now has three. Nowitzki hits his free throws and has 26 points as Dallas goes up 66-59. Durant has 24.  10:46: Durant gets knocked to the floor and looks a little shaken. But goes to the line and hits both. Thunder down by 5, and that's four fouls on Tyson Chandler.  10:45: Dallas can't guard Durant either. He gets two more free throws and is 7-for-8 on freebies. Marion answers with a bucket and the plus-one. Dallas up 64-57.  10:43: Nowitzki is creating foul trouble for Thunder. Collison just picked up his fourth trying to contain Dirk. Dallas lead at 61-55.  10:40: Stevenson hits a three and the 60-49 lead is Dallas' largest of the night.  10:36: Under way in the third quarter. Ibaka gets his fourth foul and sends Nowitzki to the line, where he hits both. Dallas up 57-48. Dirk has 23.  10:24: Mavs stats at the half. Dallas is shooting 52.5%. Nowitzki leads everybody with 21 points on 8-for-9 shooting, plus 5 rebounds. Terry has dropped in 10 off the bench, but he also has three fouls. Kidd has 5 assists, and Dallas has taken better care of the ball, with 4 turnovers to 7 for OKC.  10:20: Thunder stats at the half. OKC is shooting 44.7%, Durant has 17 on 6-for-8 shooting. Harden and Westbrook have 7 apiece, but Westbrook has been an awful 1-for-8. Rebounding is even, 19-19.  10:15: Halftime. Dallas up 55-48. Back in a couple with the stats at the break.  10:13: Stojakovic hits a three. That pushes Dallas' run to 16-1.  10:10: Russell Westbrook is killing the Thunder. He's 1-for-8 with some awful bricks. Dallas up 51-45, 1:30 left in the second. Dallas on a 12-0 run.  10:08: Terry has 10 points off the bench, but picked up his second foul. Nowitzki strong to the rim, and gets the plus-one for his 19th point and a 49-45 Dallas lead. Timeout OKC.  10:06: Jason Terry hits his second three and Marion (with a bloody nose) adds a bucket for a 7-0 Mavs run and a 46-45 Dallas lead. Westbrook's last three shots have been way off the mark for OKC.  10:04: Westbrook hits the technical shot. Mavs up 45-39. Marion up and okay.  10: 01: Marion is hurt and rolling around on the floor, and Rick Carlisle apparently feels he took a cheap shot from OKC. He points at the refs and gets a technical. Thunder up 44-39 with 4:26 left in second. Replay looks like Marion took an unintentional elbow to the nose from Perkins.  9:59: Barea has lit the fire for Dallas, with 9 points off the bench in 7 minutes. Thunder up by one with 5:30 left in the half.  9:58: Durant has 15, Nowitzki 16. OKC shooting 53.6%, Dallas 51.9%. Thunder are 4-for-6 on threes, Dallas is 2-for-8.  9:55: Barea hits a three for Mavs. Timeout with 6:27 left in the half, and OKC leading 39-37.  9:52: Harden answers with a three for OKC, but Nowitzki comes right back with his sixth basket. Still no misses for him.  9:51: Pair of free throws by Nowitzki ties it at 32. Dirk has 14.  9:46: Nowitzki is 5-for-5 now. OKC takes a timeout with 8:51 left in the half and Dallas down only 32-30 after a 7-0 run.  9:45: Jason Terry drills his first three of the night. Crowd getting into it as Mavs pull back to within 32-28. 9:30 left in the half.  9:43: But the key stat from the first quarter is that OKC out-rebounded Dallas by 12-5. Mavs were expected to rule the boards, but they belonged to the Thunder despite Perkins' foul trouble.  9:41: Who will miss first? Durant was 5-for-5 for 13 points in the first quarter, and Nowitzki was 4-for-4 for 10.  9:37: OKC finishes the quarter strong and leads 27-20. Harden had a monster dunk off an alley-oop pass and Durant went coast-to-coast with a turnover for a lay-in right at the horn. Incredible clock awareness.  9:34: Great OR and follow basket by Nick Collison for a 23-18 OKC lead. Next trip down Durant either gets tripped or tripped himself. No call. They're letting them play so far.  9:30: Terry hits a long jumper for Mavs, who are down 21-18 with 2:30 left in the first. OKC was on a 15-4 run before that shot went down. Timeout.  9:26: Westbrook goes the length of the court with a turnover. OKC up 19-16 with 4:06 left in the first. Nowitzki on the bench, and Jason Terry is in for Mavs.  9:24: Durant hits a long jumper and has 8. OKC up 15-14.  9:21: Sefalosha buries a three, and Collison grabs a loose ball and scores again for OKC. Thunder take a 13-12 lead. Timeout with 6:10 left in the first. OKC weathered that early outburst from Nowitzki and doesn't look like its young roster has any jitters.  9:18: Durant answers with a three, but Nowitzki answers that with another deuce. He's 4-for-4, with 10 points, and Dallas leads 12-6. Durant has 6.  9:16: Big blow for OKC. Perkins has his second personal (to go along with a technical) and takes a seat with 8:50 left in the first quarter. And Nowitzki has 8 now.  9:14: Throwdown by Nowitzki. He has all 6 points. Marion adds a bucket and Dallas is off to an 8-2 lead.  9:12: Didn't take long for this one to get nasty. Double technical called on Tyson Chandler and Kendrick Perkins.  9:11: Less than a minute in and Durant has his first foul, and Nowitzki has his first long jumper. Mavs draw first blood.  9:09: We're under way. First thing to look for is whether the Mavericks are fresh or rusty after that lengthy layoff between sweeping the Lakers and now.  9:07: You'll hear it often tonight that this is only the second time in the last 14 years that neither the Lakers nor the Spurs are in the Western Conference finals. Do you miss those teams, or is it refreshing to have some new faces vying for a trip to the NBA finals?  9:00: Here's the draft order for the top 14 picks: 1. Cleveland. 2. Minnesota. 3. Utah. 4. Cleveland. 5. Toronto. 6. Washington. 7. Sacramento. 8. Detroit. 9. Charlotte. 10. Milwaukee. 11. Golden State. 12. Utah. 13. Phoenix. 14. Houston.  8:56: The NBA lottery is over, and Cleveland is the big winner, with the first and fourth pick. Minnesota had to settle for No. 2, and Utah got No. 3.  See photos of: Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Live NBA blog: Dallas wins as Nowitzki scores 48, sets FT record - Game On!: Covering the Latest Sports News