OKLAHOMA CITY — Grabbing a loose ball, Tim Hardaway Jr. found himself in the left corner spot and urgently let off a turnaround 3-point attempt that swished in before the shot clock expired. The bench guard’s dagger happened in front of OKC’s bench as Dallas pushed its lead to 11 points with less than three minutes left.
The last-second outside attempt exemplified the type of 3-point shooting Dallas enjoyed as OKC suffered a Game 2 loss at home.
The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered their first defeat in over a month in their 119-110 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The Round 2 matchup is tied at 1-1 following the first two contests in OKC.
“We’ve got a really good opponent that played really well tonight,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said on the playoff loss. “We tried to scrap back into it. I thought our effort was really good tonight. I thought we tried to gear it up a couple different times. I thought where we left something to be desired was execution.”
The Mavericks had a strong start by scoring the first seven points. The Thunder quickly fell into a 16-6 hole in the opening minutes. The Thunder responded with a run to close the gap. Dallas ended the first quarter with a 36-32 lead.
The Mavericks added to their lead in the second frame with a 21-9 run to create a 13-point lead with a little under five minutes left in the first half. Dallas’ space on the scoreboard quickly disappeared as OKC responded with a 19-8 run to enter halftime with a manageable 68-62 deficit.
Switching Josh Giddey with Aaron Wiggins to start the second half, OKC came out of the break hot. It started the third frame with an 8-2 run to tie the contest at 70 apiece less than two minutes into the quarter.
The Thunder created their first lead moments later on a Wiggins floater. Lu Dort splashed a corner 3-pointer to build a three-point lead with a little under nine minutes left in the quarter. The Mavericks were forced to call an early timeout as all the momentum was on OKC’s side and the active crowd was disruptively loud.
After the timeout, P.J. Washington knocked down a 3-pointer to tie it back up at 75 apiece. Both squads exchanged blows before the Mavericks scored 10 straight points to build a 90-79 advantage. A 31-point third quarter by Dallas had it enter the final frame with a 99-89 lead.
After not giving up triple-digit points in their first five playoff games, the Mavericks flirted with 100 points in just the first three quarters against the Thunder’s defense.
The Thunder scored the first six points of the final quarter to make it a 99-95 score. The Mavericks pushed back and built a 106-97 advantage with roughly eight minutes left. OKC couldn’t threaten Dallas the rest of the way as the latter had a healthy distance on the scoreboard.
Shooting variance decided this contest. The Thunder failed to cash in on their decent looks from outside while Dallas was red-hot as its role players stepped up to go along with Luka Doncic’s bounce-back performance.
The Thunder shot 47% from the field but went 10-of-30 (33.3%) from 3. They went 16-of-17 from the free-throw line. They dished 25 assists on 42 baskets. Only three Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points on 13-of-24 shooting and 12 rebounds. Jalen Williams had 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Chet Holmgren was limited to 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks shot 47% from the field and went a sizzling 18-of-37 (48.6%) from 3. They went 17-of-24 from the free-throw line. They had 30 assists on 42 baskets. Five Mavericks players scored double-digit points.
Doncic had a monster performance of 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He shot 5-of-8 from 3. He nearly matched his Game 1 total of 19 points in the first quarter with 16 points.
“It felt like tonight, he made shots,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about Doncic. “They might’ve had us a little bit more spread out in our shell. Gotta crowd their best players obviously. That’s what everybody tries to do. But yeah, he made tough shots tonight.”
Washington stepped up with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting and 11 rebounds. He headlined Dallas’ hot outside shooting with a 7-of-11 night from 3. Kyrie Irving had nine points and 11 assists. Hardaway Jr. contributed with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
This loss is going to sting for the Thunder considering how long they went without a defeat. It also stings because the first-seeded OKC has lost homecourt advantage against Dallas, which could be consequential down the road this series.
The Thunder weren’t going to go a perfect 16-0 in the playoffs, but a commanding 2-0 series lead over Dallas was within reach. Odds are, this will also be Irving’s worst game of the series. OKC failed to take advantage of this and couldn’t hit shots down the stretch while the Mavericks had a hot outside shooting night led by Doncic’s dominating performance.
This will likely be a long series. Both squads splitting the opening two contests shouldn’t be a massive shocker. It’s now up to the Thunder to return the favor and steal at least one of their next two games at Dallas.
“Credit them, it’s a heavyweight fight,” Daigneault said. “We threw a punch the other night. They threw a punch tonight. Part of fighting is throwing them, part of fighting is taking them. We took one tonight.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Hitting a half-spin out of the post, Gilgeous-Alexander managed to get Washington to bite for his pump-fake and leaned his body into an open floater that splashed in. The footwork was impeccable as his opening basket previewed the type of efficient scoring night he’d enjoy.
In 41 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points on 13-of-24 shooting, 12 rebounds and eight assists. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Gilgeous-Alexander got to his spots with ease. Dallas failed to deter him on his drives as he shot 9-of-14 inside the paint. He had a strong first half with 18 points. That continued in the second half as he finished as OKC’s leading scorer.
Through two games, the MVP runner-up has been the best player in this series. He did enough to win this game for the Thunder. Alas, it didn’t happen as OKC’s lack of outside shots wasted a masterful performance by the 25-year-old.
Nonetheless, the Thunder will need Gilgeous-Alexander to carry this production to Dallas in hopes of stealing a road game.
“I’m excited for the challenge,” Gilgeous-Alexander on responding to their first playoff loss. “I don’t think for us, it’s more complicated than trying to be better than we were tonight for the next game and we’ve done all season. Just solve all our problems for the whole team.”
Jalen Williams: B
Unlike in Game 1, Williams couldn’t muster up enough dominating possessions in the fourth quarter to serve as OKC’s closer in its comeback attempt.
In 39 minutes, Williams finished with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, four rebounds and four assists. He shot 2-of-4 from 3 and went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. In the fourth quarter, he was limited to four points on 2-of-6 shooting.
While it wasn’t a monster-scoring outing, the volume is certainly encouraging. Williams finished with the second-most shot attempts behind Gilgeous-Alexander. That formula needs to be replicated for future postseason contests if OKC wants to advance past Round 2.
The jumper didn’t fall tonight, but Williams is too talented of a scorer for that to continue for the rest of the series. The 23-year-old has to aid Gilgeous-Alexander against one of the best duos in the league in Doncic and Irving.
“They hit shots and whenever teams do that, you kinda just got to tip your hat and get ready for the next one,” Williams said.
Jaylin Williams: A
The Thunder kept their Williams-Holmgren frontcourt a secret for most of the regular season, sporadically playing them together. The lack of tape has likely helped it be a success so far for OKC in the postseason.
In 14 minutes off the bench, Williams had eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, four rebounds and two assists. He shot 2-of-4 from 3. The Williams-Holmgren duo was a plus-nine in four minutes played together.
The backup big scored all eight of his points in the opening quarter. He had an early impact as he subbed in for Giddey roughly four minutes into the contest. They connected on a deep pass at the end of the first quarter as Holmgren made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The duo provides OKC with a versatile frontcourt to spread the floor and defend the paint.
The second-year forward matches up well against Dallas. This could be a huge series for him where the Thunder rely on him to pair up with Holmgren to give OKC solid frontcourt minutes against the Mavericks’ athletic forwards.
“I thought in both games, it’s given us a nice rim presence,” Daigneault said on the Holmgren-Williams duo. “It’s given us a nice rebounding presence. I think with the way they defend us, it doesn’t really alter us much offensively. We’re able to stay in character.”
Josh Giddey: F
One of the biggest concerns entering this Round 2 matchup was Giddey’s struggles against the Mavericks. They were one of the best teams in the league at exposing his flaws in the regular season.
Through two games, it’s looked much of the same for Giddey. After just 17 minutes in Game 1, he played a career-low 11 minutes in the Thunder’s Game 2 loss. He finished with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting and two rebounds. He was a game-worst minus-20.
The Thunder sat Giddey in favor of Wiggins to start the second half. It produced much better results for OKC as it took its only lead in the third frame. He only played three minutes in the second half as the Thunder battled it out with the Mavericks.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Thunder do for Game 3 as it appears this isn’t the series Giddey can excel in. Dallas has his number and it’s been a rough two games. OKC’s margin of error will be thinner from here on out against the Mavericks.
“I wouldn’t say it didn’t work,” Daigneault said about Giddey’s playing time. “Halftime sub is a sub we’ve done for a long time. It’s basically an in-game substitution. So I don’t view it any different than checking someone into the game with eight minutes to go in the third quarter.”
