The day after his demonstration against the Cavaliers, the Thunder fell against the Mavericks. It must be said that Mark Daigneault's players showed up in Texas, without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, injured in the right wrist. This is his first missed game this season.
Without him, we witnessed a completely unbridled, but intense match. It was Dallas who struck first with a 10-0 run led by Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington. Then, the Thunder engaged in a 3-point contest. Each in turn, Jalen Williams' partners planted from afar. Caruso, Dort, Joe and Carlson score from 3-points, to lead 26-22 at the end of the first quarter. In the middle of this deluge, Olivier-Maxence Prosper signs the “poster” of the evening by smashing Jalen Williams.
What’s next? A violent 19-0 from the Mavericks, who took advantage of the slightest lost ball to score. And as Kyrie Irving looks for the extra pass, Klay Thompson or Naji Marshall in the corner are in a chair to plant 3-points. The Mavericks put in one of their best quarters of the season (41-17) to return to the locker room with a 20-point lead (63-43).
Dinwiddie, executioner of the Thunder
But since it is a series game, the Thunder opens the 3rd quarter with a 12-0 lead in four minutes. The Mavericks are too slow on the shooters, and the Wiggins-Williams duo brings OKC to -8. Kyrie Irving stops the bleeding, but Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe already equalize (69-69). Everything has to be done again for the Mavericks, and at the start of the last quarter, there is only one point difference (77-76).
Series match obliges, Dallas signs a 6-0 to attack the last quarter, and this time, the Thunder will not manage to pick up. The fault is Spencer Dinwiddie who will plant two huge 3-pointers in “money time” to repel the Thunder’s comeback attempt (101-93). It was PJ Washington, with a big dunk, who validated Dallas' victory (106-98). The first in four matches.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
The Mavericks like the Thunder. Dallas is the only team this season to have beaten the Thunder twice. Both times without Luka Doncic. Note that this is the first time that OKC has finished a meeting without a player with 20 points or more.
The Mavericks hate the Thunder. Once again, the meeting was marked by multiple clashes. As in the last playoffs, it is PJ Washington who plays the “bad boy” whether it is sending Lu Dort to the ground, or making a dangerous foul on Jaylin Williams, synonymous with Flagrant I.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
