Dallas Mavericks forward David Lee (42) celebrates after making a basket and getting fouled as Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) walks past him during the first half at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Wednesday, February 24, 2016. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

Lee did a little bit of everything in his 15 minutes off the bench, grabbing four rebounds and passing the ball around to his teammates for a couple of assists to go with his four points. Coach Rick Carlisle even elected to leave the newcomer out on the floor in the fourth quarter as Dallas attempted a last-ditch comeback against the Thunder.

The debut of David Lee in a Mavericks uniform was not a victorious one, but the 10-year veteran made contributions to the team's effort against the Thunder.

Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant saw that Lee was quickly adapting to Carlisle and the Mavericks' system.

"When you come into a system it's not like a guy will make a huge change," Durant said after the Thunder's 116-103 win over the Mavs. "They been playing this way for years. He just came in and complemented them. He got offensive rebounds, he made plays, he was another big body for them.

"It wasn't a big, drastic change (when Lee was on the floor) but that's not a bad thing either."

The Mavericks' offense started slow on Wednesday night quickly falling behind 15-3. But later in the game the Mavs put together a couple of runs to make things interesting and keep the Thunder on their toes.

Dallas hit five of six 3-pointers to start the third quarter to take its first lead of the night. In the fourth quarter, after giving up a 15-0 run at one point, they went on a 13-0 run of their own to make a game of it when many seats at the American Airlines Center were already vacated by Mavs fans hoping to avoid traffic.

"I thought their energy to start the third quarter was probably a little bit better than ours in terms of we missed some shots and had some issues getting back," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said after the game. "And then I thought we had some turnovers there when we got up and they went on that 13-0 run."

"They played great defense all night. They made shots -- they're a good offensive team," Durant added. "They got Dirk (Nowitzki) who's still playing at a high level. They're a good team so they're going to make runs, especially at home."