With the Dallas Mavericks coming to town for game two of the second round of the playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked to advance its record to 6-0 in the playoffs.
Dallas had different ideas. The Mavericks became the first team to eclipse 100 points against OKC this postseason and rode big games from Luka Doncic and P.J. Washington to a 119-110 win.
Dallas struck first, with Doncic scoring eight points in the first six minutes of the game. After getting off to a 13-2 start, Dallas let its foot off the gas, and Jaylin Williams scored a quick eight points of his own, which led to OKC getting the deficit to as little as one point before the five-minute mark.
The Mavericks’ ability to space the floor kept them in the lead, and after a 6-8 start from beyond the arc, Dallas spaced the lead back out. Behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s strong play, OKC kept the game close after the first quarter despite the Dallas onslaught from three and found themselves trailing 36-32.
Dallas continued to make it rain from deep in the second. The offensive from three was led by two men, Doncic and Washington. By the time the game reached the six-minute mark in the second quarter, Doncic had drained four three-pointers, and Washington had five. Outside of those two, Dallas couldn’t get much going offensively, but the duo had pushed the Maverick lead to 13.
OKC had an offensive explosion of its own. Led by Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder closed the gap to only three points despite having made only half the three-pointers of the Mavericks.
OKC couldn’t fully close the gap, but the once double-digit lead was only six at the half, and Gilgeous-Alexander was feeling it with no signs of slowing down. If OKC could slow down Washington, who had 19 points at the half, a win was within reach.
Dallas made a huge mistake in letting OKC hang around, and that became clear in the opening stages of the third. Behind huge plays from Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, OKC took its first lead of the game in the first few minutes of the second half. Dallas grabbed the lead back with a 12-2 run. The Mavericks role players continued to be the difference, with Washington being joined by Tim Hardaway Jr. and Josh Green in helping the offense. OKC was able to stop the bleeding after the lead got to 14 and cut it down to only ten by the end of the quarter, but Dallas had the lead, along with the momentum, and OKC’s undefeated postseason was on the brink.
Dallas ran away with the game in the fourth. Hardaway Jr. came up huge multiple times, Doncic made his fair share of big shots, and outside of SGA, OKC wilted in the big moment.
Dallas eventually closed OKC out. It was the first time this postseason that the moment looked too big for the young Thunder. The 1-11 stretch the team went through in the late fourth spelled doom, and now OKC will be tasked with going to Dallas tied 1-1.
