OKLAHOMA CITY — The toughest question to ask after the disgusting performance the Dallas Mavericks put on Monday night was whether they really deserve a spot in the NBA playoffs.

Dirk Nowitzki had the most honest answer.

"Not really, not if we keep playing like this," he said. "We don't deserve it."

The Oklahoma City Thunder was missing its two best scorers and still humiliated the Mavericks for three quarters and eventually ended their three-game winning streak with a 96-87 victory at Ford Center.

Yes, the Mavericks made a cursory rally to get within four points. But they couldn't consummate the comeback.

A week ago, the Mavericks lost to one of the Western Conference's best teams, San Antonio, without Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. On Monday, they lost to one of the West's weakest teams that played without Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.

"I thought the first three quarters were a pitiful display for a team that has aspirations to be in the playoffs," coach Rick Carlisle said. "For three quarters, they really just dominated play with their sense of urgency without their two best players.

"The guy I feel for tonight is Mark Cuban. To see the way we played the first three quarters, we should all be ashamed, everybody — coaches, players, trainers, PR people."

Rookie Russell Westbrook had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and journeyman center Nenad Krstic had 26 points. That was enough to beat the Mavericks, who were soft defensively in the first half, then fell to pieces in the third quarter, when the Thunder made its first seven shots. The lead grew to 79-56 before the Mavericks got interested.

Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Gerald Green tried to lead a rally, and Nowitzki's 3-pointer with 4:12 left made it 88-84. But Kyle Weaver's 3-pointer and several botched possessions sealed the outcome.

"It's March and we're having a discussion about who's not playing hard and who is playing hard — it's unbelievable," said Jason Terry. "We got to play hard and play together, I don't care who you're playing."

Nowitzki couldn't argue anything Terry said.

"It starts with me being the best guy on the team," he said. "We got to decide if the playoffs is something that we really want."

Howard hindered: Josh Howard played 18 minutes in the first half without a rebound.

At halftime, he decided his left ankle was too sore and he sat out the second half.

What goes up: Several players got stuck in an elevator at the team hotel in the morning. They were leaving brunch and apparently too many piled into one of the cars.

After the door shut, the elevator abruptly dropped several feet and stalled. For about 20 minutes, Jason Kidd, Erick Dampier, Ryan Hollins, Antoine Wright, Gerald Green and Matt Carroll tried to keep their cool.

Finally, equipment manager Al Whitley and a hotel employee helped open the door.

Briefly: J.J. Barea spent two hours in the chair of dentist Dr. Robert Marye on Monday morning, had his two busted teeth repaired and then made it to Oklahoma City early in the afternoon. He was cleared to play. But he's not done with the dental work. He'll need a root canal, scheduled for Friday. ... The Mavericks made their pitch to free-agent big men Joe Smith and Drew Gooden. But it is believed they are well down the list of possibilities for the two players.