Recap: Thunder at Mavericks

By Nick Gallo and Paris Lawson | okcthunder.com

The Thunder ran through the finish line of its 5,000-mile, five-cities-in-ten-days road trip through a handful of playoff-caliber teams, putting itself in the fray night after night. The trip concluded in Dallas against a hungry Mavericks team, who burst out of the gates on a 12-0 run. 

Responding with resolve, OKC closed the first quarter on a 28-11 run and took a lead into the second frame. Dallas was able to find the middle of the floor and spray out passes for 3-pointers in the second quarter, and took control of the game behind the line with 22 makes from deep in the game. 

In the third quarter the Thunder adjusted tactics, forced Dallas into a less efficient style and outscored the Mavericks by seven in the period. It was a back-and-forth battle in the final frame, as the Thunder kept the pressure on in the backcourt, snapping up a pair of steals to keep Dallas off balance. Although OKC cut the deficit to just five with 28 seconds to go, that final fight was not quite enough as the Thunder headed back home with a 121-114 loss. 

Paris: The Thunder fell behind in double-figures early on after a 12-0 Dallas run to open the game. The Thunder responded with a massive run of its own to not only erase the deficit, but take a lead of its own. OKC picked up the pace offensively by getting stops, pulling down rebounds and pushing the ball up the floor before Dallas’ defense could get set. By the end of the frame, the Thunder outpaced Dallas’ offense with eight fast-break points to zero. 

Nick: As part of the Thunder outsourcing Dallas 28-11 to end the quarter, Darius Bazley made a sensational extra pass in transition to kick the ball back up the sideline to Isaiah Joe, the NBA's eighth best 3-point shooter this season, who nailed the first of back-to-back 3s. Thunder players are always primed to find the open man and turn down a good shot for a great one, and that’s exactly what Bazley did to help his team leap ahead. 

Paris: With less than 10 seconds left in the half, Jalen Williams attacked the middle of the floor and floated the ball up and through the rim. The bucket added to his strong minutes in the first half for the Thunder as he played both on and off the ball on the offensive end. By halftime, Williams posted nine points on 4-of-7 from the field. At the final buzzer, the rookie recorded 17 points on 8-of-13 from the floor. 

Nick: Excellent sequence for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who was both the assisting playmaker and the recipient of an excellent assist on back-to-back offensive possessions for the Thunder. After making a catch on a baseline cut from the weakside, Robinson-Earl made an excellent cross-court pass to Jalen Williams for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer on the left wing. The next trip down, Robinson-Earl again found himself on the right dunker spot, but this time it was Josh Giddey dropping a pass off for him to finish right at the cup for an easy bucket, tying the game at 42. 

Nick: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s patience and shot selection has been on point all season long, and a third-quarter sequence exemplified how his downhill attacks and the relentless assault he puts on the rim can set up his outside game. After getting into the paint and scoring at the rim plus the foul, Gilgeous-Alexander converted one of his three and-one’s of the game, part of an effort where he racked up 13-for-13 free-throw shooting. On the Thunder’s next possession, Gilgeous-Alexander maneuvered like he was going to drive, but instead took his first three-point attempt of the game and buried it. With 17 points in the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander now has 33 double-digit scoring quarters this season. He also eclipsed the 30-point mark for the 18th time this season, with 42 points on 14-for-23 shooting on the night. 

Paris:  The Thunder trailed by eight points with less than a minute left in the third quarter. While guarding the ball at the top of the key, Dort fought his way over a moving ball screen set by Reggie Bullock. As Dort hit the floor, the referees whistled for an offensive foul by Bullock. It was the third offensive foul drawn by Dort on the night. They were critical plays for the Thunder in both taking a possession away from the Mavericks, but also deflating their confident offense at a critical juncture of the game. 

Nick: For most of the night the Thunder tried matching Lu Dort on Luka Doncic, but also mixed and matched defenses throughout the evening. That included in crunch time when the Thunder switched everything and forced Doncic to play isolation heavy and shoot over the top of Thunder contests to end the game. While Doncic, an MVP candidate, made some of those shots, it was a good shift by the Thunder to go to a Plan B defensively to take away some of Dallas’ drive-and-kick game that led to a lot of catch-and-shoot threes throughout the game. 

Paris: With five minutes left in the game, Luka Doncic had the ball at the top of the key and used a pair of ball screens to gain some freedom from Lu Dort. Except, Doncic would get little reprieve as Eugene Omoruyi switched onto the Mavs leading scorer. Omoruyi played chest-to-chest with Doncic and forced a missed basket on his drive. In addition to Dort, the Thunder threw a variety of defenders at Doncic throughout the night including Omoruyi, Jalen Williams and even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

"(The Mavericks) were getting really good looks and that's not sustainable. You can't really control how many 3s a team wants to bomb against you but the contestedness of those is the difference. In the second half, we reined that in. They banged a shot in off the glass at the end of the quarter. Some of those obviously you live with, but that's why you want to be really stingy in the game because luck comes into play and then shot-making comes into play." - Mark Daigneault 

"The work doesn't stop. We have a long season ahead of us, and we have to get better." - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

The Thunder’s stretch of 11 out of 13 games at Paycom Center, including a 6-game home stand, begins on Wednesday in a matchup against the Miami Heat at 7 p.m. CT.