Both teams were without key pieces for the rematch from last season’s second round Western Conference playoff series.
Wholesale injury absences may have diminished the allure of the Western Conference playoff rematch between the Dallas Mavericks (7-7) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (11-3) on Sunday at the Paycom Center, but the Mavs were just desperate for another win. Dallas wore that desperation like their Sunday best (for three and a half quarters, anyway) as seven Mavericks scored in double figures on the way to a 121-119 win over the Thunder.
P.J. Washington led the way for the Mavs with 27 points and 17 rebounds in the win, while Kyrie Irving put in 23 and dished six assists. Naji Marshall and Jaden Hardy chipped in 13 apiece. Shai Gigeous-Alexander lived in the paint and gathered up 36 points and eight assists in the loss.
Dallas was without Luka Dončić, who sat with a knee contusion, while the Thunder were missing Chet Holmgren (hip fracture), Alex Caruso (also a hip injury), Jaylin Williams (hamstring), Isaiah Hartenstein (hand fracture) and Nikola Topic (ACL).
Washington was a menace early on, nailing his first three 3-point attempts in the game’s first four minutes, after failing to record a bucket in Friday’s 110-93 win over the San Antonio Spurs, his first game back off a knee injury that caused him to miss the previous five. Washington paced the Mavericks with 13 points and five rebounds in the first quarter against the Thunder.
Hardy and Marshall were intent on attacking the paint off the bench to keep Dallas’ momentum rolling, and the lane was open for business with Oklahoma City missing so many pieces on the interior. Hardy sped past the Thunder defense in secondary transition for his second bucket of the game to put the Mavs in front 32-30 with 1:50 left in the first. Marshall hit a quick turnaround in the lane two possessions later to give Dallas a 35-30 advantage as part of a little 10-3 run late in the quarter. The Mavericks took a 39-34 lead after one. The first quarter was Dallas’ highest-scoring quarter so far this season.
Dallas played with a little more pace than usual in Dončić’s absence, with head coach Jason Kidd periodically urging the team to push the ball up the floor in search of easier buckets. Dallas came into the game 29th in the NBA at location effective field goal percentage (Loc eFG%), an advanced stat that measures the quality of shots generated.
The Mavs took a 66-58 lead into halftime behind more solid play from Marshall, Daniel Gafford and Quentin Grimes. The trio combined for 17 of the team’s 26 points in the second. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot 8-of-10 from the field for 20 points to keep the Thunder connected in the first half.
A five-point trip down the floor early in the third gave the Mavericks their biggest lead to that point, when Dereck Lively missed the free-throw on a 3-point play opportunity. Washington tapped the loose ball back out to Grimes near the top of the key for Grimes’ second 3-pointer of the night, and Dallas was up 73-63 with just over 10 minutes left in the frame.
But without Dončić and his unique ability to apply a boot to the opponent’s throat, Dallas couldn’t put the Thunder away. The Mavs led 97-92 after three.
We had a Spencer Dinwiddie sighting early in the fourth, and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment. With a lineup of Hardy, Grimes, Dinwiddie, Washington and Lively on the floor, Dinwiddie raised up for contested 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and splashed them both to put Dallas ahead 103-92 and force a Thunder timeout with 10 minutes left to play.
Kyrie Irving pulled a similar trick out of his bag, raising up over the outstretched arm of Cason Wallce for a huge 3-ball from the left wing to extend the Mavs’ lead to 112-98 midway through the fourth.
Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images
Washington’s biggest moment may have been his leaner on an offensive rebound as the shot clock wound down with 2:45 left to play. Jalen Williams had just hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Thunder to within 114-109, and Dallas needed a lift in the worst way. After Irving’s leaner didn’t draw contact with the rim, Dereck Lively II tapped the offensive board out to Washington, who put up an off-balance shot from the elbow with great haste. It fell, and the Mavs could breathe again as the seconds began to tick away.
It wasn’t the prettiest finish, as a couple of crucial turnovers and poor defensive possessions in the game’s final minute threatened to spoil all the good work the Mavs had put in to that point, but Dallas did just enough to preserve the outcome. Here are the main takeaways from the much-needed win.
Crucial contributions off the bench
Hardy and Marshall set the tone for the Mavs’ second unit in the first quarter. Marshall and Gafford did the same in the second with their length and toughness near the basket. Dallas needed all hands on deck without Dončić, and for the most part, they delivered. The Mavericks’ bench outscored the Thunder reserves 27-12 in the first half and 50-25 on the night.
It’s also hard to overstate the importance of Dinwiddie’s 10 points down the stretch.
The prevailing thought going into the game may have been that Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson might do the heavy lifting in Dončić’s absence, but it was refreshing to see how many Mavericks put their fingerprints on the game at different moments. Thompson had a tough night shooting the ball in Oklahoma City, going just 1-of-11 from the field and 1-of-8 from 3-point range for five points in the win.
SGA gets his
After he poured in 20 in the first half, the Mavericks made more of a point to trap Gilgeous-Alexander in the second half to get the ball out of his hands, but he made his first two attempts of the third quarter anyway. His acrobatic drive to get underneath Gafford at the rim turned into a 3-point play with four minutes left in the third to bring the Thunder to within five, down 88-83 at the time.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams combined for 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Interior affairs
It took a completely depleted Oklahoma City frontcourt for the Mavs to finally dominate an opponent on the boards. Dallas outrebounded Oklahoma City 62-38 in the win. Washington led the way for the Mavs on the boards with 17 — a new career-high mark. Daniel Gafford also cleaned up for an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double in the win.
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