Mad Shawn Marion makes difference

Shawn Marion's teammates might not be nice to him the rest of the playoffs.

Not after the way a mad Matrix played during the Dallas Mavericks' 93-87 win in Saturday night's tiebreaking Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"We've got to have him pissed," Mavs big man Tyson Chandler said. "We've got to have him slashing all over the place and being aggressive. We don't want the happy Trix. I like the angry [Marion]. He can be pissed off at all of us if he gives us the results."

Marion's teammates and coaches mercilessly criticized him during film sessions the last couple of days. They wouldn't accept his lack of aggression in the first two games of this series, when Dallas had by far its worst defensive performances of the postseason.

The Matrix's response: He embraced the challenge. Unlike the last two games, Marion was the aggressor from the get-go.

Marion was the main man in the Mavs' defense of Kevin Durant, who made only 7 of 22 shots from the floor and went 0-of-8 from 3-point range during a horribly inefficient 24-point performance. He set the tone for Dallas' return to the in-your-grill defensive style it had during the first two rounds, when the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers failed to crack triple digits in any game.

“Shawn Marion stepped up big,” shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson said. “He wasn’t kind of there the first two games and we talked about it. Him being the person he is, he came back strong. We need that from him.”

The last couple of days weren’t pleasant for the usually happy-go-lucky Marion. However, he acknowledged that the darkening of his mood benefited his game.

“That’s what it takes,” Marion said. “It is what it is. I’m a competitor.”

Added Chandler: “He took some criticism, and he’s man enough to get out there and accept it the way he did. He didn’t tuck his tail between his legs and go hide. He stood up like a man and went out there and gave us a great effort tonight.”